Judith Frenda was born in Westmead just west of Parramatta, New South Wales.

Her early exposure to classical music and reading led to an interest in all the arts. In later life, she joined a creative writing course and specialised in stories and articles featuring humorous and historical content. Taking on family history revealed much of her mother’s English background.

Freddy’s Letters, comprising both fact and fiction, is her first novel, resulting from a batch of letters handed to her from a cousin. The letters were written from London to her mother and aunts, then girls in Australia, who’d migrated under the British Child Emigration Scheme. The letters provided many answers to questions about life in London for her English grandparents and their four children during the Edwardian and Georgian periods. Life in Australia for the girls continued as the second part of the story.

Judith firmly believes that nurturing family relationships is the basis for a healthy and strong nation.

History often recounts the lives of the great – Kings and Queens, rulers and those who have done extraordinary things.  And yet we know that the life of ordinary people is full of greatness too – daily acts of courage, sacrifice and love.

What was it like living in London for an average working class family during Edwardian and Georgian times?  The author has created a humorous, yet sensitive and realistic account of her forebears’ lives, drawing on historical facts, fiction and genuine letters.  This is a story of love and family life as Fred and Anna struggle to provide for their growing family.   The second part of this history describes the fate of Fred and Anna’s children, separated across continents and yet held together through family love, and Freddy’s letters.