Melbourne , Australia, it is 1955. A four-year old child, Isla, is seated at a piano. She digs out her scrunched sheet music from her school bag, flattens it out and places it before her. She looks about an unfamiliar room, where windows frame the wild unforgiving
landscape of the Orkney Islands, before resting her tiny fingers on the old upright keyboard. Little did Isla or her father know of her mother ’s secret to abduct Isla from her home, her friends, family and everything that made her feel loved and secure. Isla’s Song, set in the heady folk music days of the 60s, is a story of ch oices, betrayal, love, stardom, eternal hopes and a child’s love. Each chapter named after a Joni Mitchell song to flavour and enhance the adventure. From one act of kidnapping, a little girl reveals to us how the gift of music and a commitment to manifest can really make dreams come true.
Darren is expert on family law, divorce and separation, having specialised in this area of law as a Barrister for over 30 years. He was also awarded Barrister of the Year in 2022 at the Australian Law Awards. Darren is also a professional actor and producer. His recent short film – Degree of Separation – a story about family violence – won multiple international awards, opening the Beverley Hills Film Festival at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles in 2016 with a best short film nomination. He is a director of To Be Loved Network – a charitable foundation which produces resources advancing the best interests of children navigating conflict in parental separation and divorce (www.tobeloved.org.au)
* Is your child loved…truly loved?
* Inspired by a true story, Darren Mort, a Barrister, author, actor, film producer beautifully tells the story of Isla, who at four years of age is taken away from everything she knows and loves by her mother– without any warning to her beloved father.
* And so a soulful journey begins across the seas, from the leafy streets of suburban Melbourne, to the treeless windswept Orkney Islands in Scotland, to the bright lights of The Westend, held buoyant by a constant thread of music.
* The book gives the reader an opportunity to see relationship breakdown from a child’s point of view, carefully nuanced by the author’s wealth of experience in the family law field.
* Darren has more than 30 years’ experience as a Barrister representing families. His short film on children and family violence – TOMMY – won 12 best film awards and is now part of the American court system, having been embedded in a compulsory conflict resolution program. Darren’s children’s book – Tommy & Tiger Terry – was published in 2019.
Publicity:
* Darren has events to promote Isla’s Song in the West End (late May – early June) and in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
* Darren will promote the book on all social media channels, including with a short and longer video - https://vimeo.com/815220623, https://vimeo.com/815310844
* Two major film production companies have already expressed interest in optioning the book for international film production purposes.
