Present Tense

In 1993 Freya Prentiss returns to Australia after a whirlwind courtship and marriage in Scotland, looking forward to merging motherhood with meaningful work. Elated about reuniting with her own family after a thirteen year absence she is uneasy about meeting Reg’s parents. Startled by the wealth and lifestyle of her in-laws, qualms emerge around values and compromise.

While Reg is in New York on business, complications set in for Freya – her sister’s IVF baby, her grandmother’s dementia, the road accident that kills her parents and uninvited memories of first love. As Freya cares for Gramma, old family secrets and identity questions plague her again. When the old lady dies Freya reviews her priorities. Aided by good friends she applies to volunteer for humanitarian aid work.

In Africa the injustice of the 1997-1998 man-made famine in the south of Sudan and the desperate plight of the victims breaks Freya’s heart. Just when the tide is turning for the starving and dispossessed, her first love Alexander appears briefly out of the blue. Emotion flares but he is married with a child – taboo.

The emergency medevac of a colleague to Amsterdam takes her to furlough earlier than expected. Headed for the remote north-west of Scotland she vows to tackle her confusion about humanity in general and an out-dated emotional attachment.