Alison Booth's Blog, page 3

Interview with North East Lifestyle Magazine

Here’s my January interview with North East Lifestyle Magazine. Head to page 98 to read about my next novel, The Philosopher's Daughters. Publication date April 2020.http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EI

Australia Day

Algernon Talmage / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainFew would argue with the idea of having a public holiday to celebrate Australia’s nationhood. But attaching that holiday to the day that the First Fleet landed in Australia and claimed sovereignty over the eastern seaboard is much more debatable. Yet that linking of Australia Day with the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 has been in place since the 1930s. The state of Victoria adopted 26 January as Australia Day in 1931 and by 1935 all of the other Australian states and territories had followed suit.On Australia Day it is natural to think about Australia’s origins and history. And sadly the chosen day is one that many Indigenous people think of as Invasion Day, or Mourning Day, or Survival Day, the latter because –– against the odds and the new settlers’ perceptions –– . Might an alternative date to celebrate Australia Day be more palatable? Many people think so. Maybe a better celebration date would be the coming together of the various colonies into a Federation on 1 January 1901. However, this date is problematic for at least one very important reason: we all love our public holidays and wouldn’t want to see the New Year’s Day public holiday conflated with Australia Day. So what to do? One idea would be to pick a time of the year that is short of public holidays and make that Australia Day. On this day, we could celebrate a history of reconciliation, community, multiculturalism. For me Australia Day should also be a day of celebration of country and stewardship of this earth and a recognition of the need to look after it. This would reflect the goals of the Indigenous population – the First Australians.For many of us, Australia Day in 2020 was especially poignant, for much of our country was on fire and issues of climate change were in the forefront of eople’s minds. And many of us were wondering how Aboriginal land management practices might be better understood by our policy makers.Australia Day is also a celebration of all that has been good about this country – the multiculturalism, the sense of community, and the welcoming of displaced peoples after wars.My husband, a British citizen by birth, was naturalised on Australia Day. In a moving ceremony in Canberra some years ago, he was one of a number of people from remarkably disparate countries who were welcomed as new citizens.As well as being a British citizen, I’m a fourth generation Australian, my ancestors having arrived on the eastern seaboard of Australia in the late nineteenth century, prior to Federation. In this sense, my new novel, The Philosopher’s Daughters reflects my family history. The novel is a tale of two very different sisters, who were educated in London by their philosopher father. The sisters’ 1890s voyage from London to the remote outback of Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and a story of savage dispossession. In their very different ways the sisters develop a great affinity for the country and a sympathy for the original inhabitants who were displaced so harshly without any treaty.

Background to Writing 'The Philosopher's Daughters'

My new blog on the background to writing my fifth novel, can now be viewed at; https://www.alisonbooth.net/blog

The novel, in the genre of historical fiction, The Philosopher's Daughters will be published in the UK by RedDoor Press on 2 April, 2020.

Background to Writing THE PHILOSOPHER’S DAUGHTERS

THE PHILOSOPHER’S DAUGHTERS is a tale of two very different sisters whose 1890s voyage from London into remote outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and savage dispossession.The idea for this new novel just wouldn’t let me alone. I kept imagining 1890s London and two strong young women, the daughters of a moral philosopher. Someone like John Stuart Mill, a great advocate for the emancipation of women. Someone who gives the girls a relatively modern upbringing. Then I thought of altering the sisters’ circumstances so that they separately choose to journey into remote and wild Australia. What might happen to them? How might they see life at the ‘frontier’ once they are confronted with the brutal dispossession of the Indigenous population? How would their characters develop as they faced danger?The late nineteenth century has always held for me a particular fascination. My ancestors came to Australia from England and Scotland before Federation in 1901, arriving in the colonies of Sydney and Melbourne. I grew up intrigued by the thought that Australia once comprised small colonies teetering on the edge of the vast continent, and I think that’s one reason why wanted to travel back to the 1890s in order to view it. The second half of the novel, set in 1893, mostly takes place in the Northern Territory of South Australia. Together with the top of Western Australia, this was one of the last areas of the continent to be appropriated by white colonisers. At that time and in that part of Australia, the frontier wars were still being fought, largely over the establishment of the cattle industry, although they weren’t recognised as frontier wars back then. Indeed, only relatively recently has the full extent of settlement massacres been documented. See this article: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng- interactive/2019/mar/04/massacre-map-australia-the-killing-times-frontier-warsIn doing the research for this novel, I was aware that, for our history, we rely upon the words of others. And when we read those words we should ask ourselves whose story is missing. Typically, it will be the story of those who held no power at the time. The women and of course the Indigenous inhabitants. The Northern Territory (NT) has long held a particular fascination for me. This began with my father’s reminiscences of the years he spent there as a very young man after the 1942 bombing of Darwin by the Japanese. I visited the Northern Territory for the first time in 2003, where in a Darwin hotel I witnessed casual racism that I found quite shocking. Since then, I’ve travelled widely in the NT, being fortunate to visit some remote Indigenous communities with my two daughters, both of whom are residents of the NT, one living extremely remotely on an Indigenous community and the other in Darwin. Writing an historical novel gives one a marvellous excuse to delve into the past, to read around that period, as well as to take little excursions in other directions. For example, in some of my background reading for The Philosopher's Daughters, I came across a description of a cricket match in Darwin in 1908, written by Fred Blakeley. This encapsulated for me the era and the racism, amongst other things. Reading Blakeley’s account gave me the idea of including a cricket match in The Philosopher's Daughters. My cricket match, written from both sisters’ perspectives, is a very different cricket match to Fred Blakeley’s. And it forms a useful framing device for the start of the sisters’ journeys into the NT outback.The Philosopher's Daughters. is written only from the sisters’ viewpoints. Since they are very different in spite of their common upbringing, their twin viewpoints allowed the narrative to be more nuanced than if I’d been writing from the perspective of just one. As a woman of European extraction, I would never choose to write from the viewpoint of an Aboriginal Australian person. While I can try to imagine what their experiences might be like and feel empathy for their history and treatment at the hands of colonisers and beyond, I feel we have already stolen enough from them without stealing their stories.Pre-publication endorsements for The Philosopher's Daughters A lyrical tale of wild, frontier Australia. Evocative, insightful, thought-provoking.Karen Viggers, authorBooth is superb at the small detail that creates a life, and the large one that gives it meaning. Marion Halligan, author Delicately handled historical drama with a theme of finding self, both in relationships and art, backed by issues on race relations in Australia and women’s rights.Tom Flood, author and editor

Reading Group Questions for Book Clubs: A Perfect Marriage

For readers who belong to a book club, here are a few questions that might help kick off a lively discussion about A Perfect Marriage.Who is your favourite character in the book and why?Sally and Zoe seem at first appearance to be unlikely friends and yet they form a bond that will last for many years. Discuss why this occurs and whether it is believable or not. Compare and contrast the similarities and the differences between these two characters.The structure of A Perfect Marriage was designed to increase narrative tension. When reading the novel, were you aware that the front story moved forward in time while the back story moved back in time? Do you think that technique worked in terms of increasing narrative tension?Sally stayed in a disastrous marriage for so long because of her love for her daughter, Charlotte. Do you think she did the right thing or should she have left Jeff years before?A Perfect Marriage has themes of strong female friendships and mother-daughter relationships. How important are friendships and family to the main character, Sally?Compare and compare contrast the two principal male characters, Jeff and Anthony. Consider why Jeff appealed to Sally in her youth and why Anthony appealed to her in middle-age.Should Sally have never married Jeff, or were his weaknesses only revealed well after the marriage?

Alison's Book Launch, A Perfect Marriage

Alison’s Book Launch, A Perfect Marriage, at Paperchain Bookstore, 24 May 2018Firstly – I’d like to acknowledge we are on the lands of the Ngunnawal Ngambri people.Secondly – what an honour it is to launch this book. A PERFECT MARRIAGE.And to be Alison’s friend.SO why me with this privilege?– It’s humbling; I am not an expert in publishing and nor am I a well known activist on one of the key themes of the book - domestic violence.However I am also a writer. A historian who believes in the power of good story telling. For social change.And yes, I have written and collaborated on feminist history projects.Sure, I have marched against rape in war, & sadly, had to chauffeur a woman who lived next door to me in Darwin to women’s refuges more than once. And I still sign petitions to try to take action about domestic violence.I am sure that many of us have done such things.26 women have died due to domestic violence in Australia this year already.So what did Alison do about it? She wrote a novel that has domestic violence at its core.Is it depressing? Is it full of awful sadism or horrific?Not at all. It is a bloody good read.And it that sense, it reminds me of the kind of activism of a group like Midnight Oil. Rather than berating people about Land rights or about asbestos mining, they wrote jolly good songs about them. Ones people wanted to dance to and learn the words of.That’s what Alison has done in this highly readable novel. One that people will want to read for enjoyment. Not to be hectored to or to gain a moral lesson. But to be intrigued by and to gain another layer of understanding, of insight into what it might be like for a middle class woman enmeshed in a marriage ruled by the terror of domestic violence.So, isn’t Alison Booth just amazing? Hard hitting economist, feminist, leader in her field, innovator and novelist.Somehow Alison had instant success in a trade that so many aspire to –so many pipedreams of novels unpublished, and I’ve met many academics with such artefacts.In the book at hand, ‘A Perfect Marriage’, Alison offers a journey that will be enjoyed by many readers.In the style of a true master –& it’s a shame ‘mistress’ has gained a totally different connotation - she regularly switches her subject matter, her settings and her themes.And she doesn’t write disguised autobiography. In this, like her other novels, she’s an accomplished writer of mature fiction – one who invents worlds in which people inhabit - people you haven’t met before, people you soon get to know, and who afterwards, you don’t want to let go of.Alison is not only versatile but highly productive – In the Jingera Trilogy (Stillwater Creek, The Indigo Sky, A Distant Land), set in a sleepy seaside community – in their respective decades, Alison first portrayed an ‘old Australia’, a non urban world.In that trilogy, she follows the characters as they mature, grow and move around. In the plots, she touches on important social themes – the immigrant experience, what it means to carry the pain of Europe’s devastating wars, the difficulties and flowering of young boy with a speech impediment, the beauty of music, the impending danger posed by a paedophile, an Aboriginal girl who is one of the key character’s school friends, and whose life, once she is institutionalized, veers in a different, albeit not victimized, but empoweringly politicized direction.The characters are intriguing, convincing and surprising. The landscape is sensory, it draws you in. But amidst the calm and the seemingly blue skies, the reader senses that an impending storm could break out at any minute.Not the same technique used in a perfect marriage.Ah a perfect marriage. Don’t we all wish we had one? Well NO, not this particular one. Not anything like this one.The title is of course deeply ironic, for from the very first night of their wedding, nothing could be further from the truth.Key characters are Sally Lachlan, her daughter Charlie, husband Jeff, and new prospect, the intriguing Anthony.Sally Lachlan is a perfectionist.An accomplished scholar. A good mother. A good daughter to her aging parents.She also wanted to have the perfect marriage.And she tries, yes tries hard, to be a good wife.SO without spoiling the read, I will tell you a little bit about the introductory sections and in my praise, I undertake to not give away any secrets.**We start with a corpse. This may somewhat usual - as the crime TV shows generally do start with the corpse, usually of a gorgeous young woman.No This is a male corpse.Handsome, still alluring in a way, with attractively tousled hair, even in death.After this ‘you won’t be going to sleep yet’ move, the reader is then transported into a comfortingly familiar but hellishly awkward scene.You’re on a plane. You have a spare seat beside you. A stranger heads up the aisle then sits next to you. Your lack of curiosity is followed by ever increasing curiosity.Unusually for Alison’s novels, and her characters, both of these two – the potential new lover and the key protagonist, are academics. Very successful ones.Experts in skin cells. They publish in a journal called Trends in Genetics. And here the humour explodes early – after all, it’s only page 8 and we have only just met them:‘I watch Anthony watching me. I am at the mercy of my biochemistry now. Isn’t this what attraction is? I can almost feel the neurotransmitters making connections. Watch out, body: here come the monoamines. Watch out, body: dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin are on the loose.’And they do cause havoc, or at least disturb the relative calm Sally has created in her life.This novel moves back and forth in time, teasing you with detail, filling in context and character. There are clever little allusions that bring you back to previous episodes – ones I often missed upon first reading and appreciated second time around.The emotional gear can change rapidly, but somehow there’s a sense of flow and a sense of continuously adding layers to the characterizations.Of course, the craft of this book is best experienced in the reading, and in the way sentences evolve into paragraphs and into the next paragraph, driving the magic of this novel.*There are moments of real power that provide insights into human psychology. The story of the boat trip, as they approach danger, with everyone in the boat having a different attitude as to what to do. Sally urges caution. Others disagree. She screams out for her daughter.This is a very moving sequence.It is not speaking directly to the plot, but rather, it subtly establishes a mood of anticipation. And simultaneously it lurches you inside the protagonist’s mental space, thus effectively deepening her characterization.In another sequence, when Sally has the night horrors, she decides to work on her conference paper.Brief Moment of recognition: QUOTE ‘Work is panacea. Work is soothing.’Spoken as only an academic writer can!?There are some glorious descriptions of academic conference exchanges – not only of the guy promoting his own work at question time [– is he here? –in the audience?]A portrayal of the hubbub afterwards of everyone speaking above each other, unrestrained, about what they really think of the preceding panel.It’s interesting that the key character, the academic Sally Lachlan, is also a mother, a single mother.It doesn’t take long for us to get inside her head and to implicitly trust her. The character has an honesty about her, an incrementally growing self-awareness amidst secrecy and a blocking out of part of her life.With her oddly retreating – especially at moments of highly charged emotion - into academic speak, her daughter Charlie’s resentment implodes into a terrific dialogue moment:‘My mother, the fucking scientist. You always have a pat answer for everything.’Despite being well educated and a sensible character, what eventuates in the novel is quite beyond Sally’s control. Yet not? Does she grab the reins again? It’s quite a journey and I’m determined not to give away the plot.**Alison’s language is crisp, clear, seemingly simple. As are her plots.But yes, you know there’ll be surprises. But not of a disheartening kind.As I said, this is no Handmaid’s Tale. You’ll be able to sleep fine after reading it as bed time reading.There’s a lightness of touch about the story telling, about the lives themselves.There’s even a kind of protectiveness that the author, Alison, nurtures towards the reader. Which I noticed in Alison Booth’s Trilogy too.In other words, reading this book won’t ruin your day. It won’t ruin several days.There’s something so compelling about it, that you’ll want to read it in a day or two at the most.Though I have to admit, that when first reading it I did wake up at 3am to finish it.It’s absorbing. When I thought I’d better reread with more of a scholarly eye, you know, this didn’t really work as I was helplessly swept along yet again - hoping and worrying and barracking for the various characters.Though I did notice more things about Alison’s craft and economy of words, natty descriptions, often cosy and familiar. Ever so softly, you are taken into the lives of these characters.At important high points of the plot, Alison reaches deep and comes up with stunning metaphors that make you stop in your tracks.The reviews of the book on Good Reads talk of her great writing style and above all, of reader’s enjoyment.A concept we rarely talk about when doing academic reading or reviewing! But indeed, novel reading is meant to be leisure. It’s not meant to be an effort or an exercise in due diligence and rigor.Nonetheless we seek truth in story telling --- We look for humanity, its pleasures and its scars as well as it festering scabs, the kind that no individual can truly leave behind. But we also seek hope. And here we get that too.As the title hints, there is quite a bit of rumination about perfection throughout the book. And I do wonder whether the female friendship will be the more perfect marriage of kindred spirits.To sum up, the novel becomes an emotional journey.A sensible woman becomes unstuck.Handsome men are her downfall. But you agree that she deserves a good life.The problem is, the new chap on the scene seems just too perfect.So, Alison, what happens next?As it seems we won’t find out, I had better officially congratulate Alison on her inspiring achievement and I hereby officially Launch Alison Booth’s latest book – A Perfect Marriage…Ann McGrath is at the Australian National University, where she is Kathleen Fitzpatrick ARC Australian Laureate Fellow and Distinguished Professor

Books that Changed Me: Alison Booth

This article was published on the Sydney Morning Herald at https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/....

On being a novelist as well as an economist

“Economics shows how societies function. Writing fiction gives them meaning.” I find it fun living in parallel universes -- the fictional world and the real one - and being able to step in and out of each. Of course creating a fictional world is hard work. Very hard work. And work that requires the exercise of logic as well as inspiration. Although the fictional world might allow the imagination a free rein, it does need to have a structure to it, at least as I see it. Just as economics does. And for me each activity represents an escape, or a means of putting the other into perspective.In many ways creative writing is different to economics. When writing fiction you can be less precise. You can be more poetic. You can be emotional. You can let the intuition that you normally suppress come pouring out as soon as you pick up a pencil or start tapping on the keyboard, so that the act of writing is a release from the day-to-day business of living. Sometimes it’s actually an escape; for example after a day that hasn’t gone according to plan, a day that’s lasted forever and left you feeling wrung out. Yet economists also need writing skills. Economics is a very precise discipline, requiring the exercise of logic and quantitative skills. But it’s also a social science, involving the study of human beings and the analysis of economic and social interactions. The academic papers that make the biggest contributions in economics not only analyse an important issue and do so in a creative and insightful way, but they also tell a good narrative. Even the self-styled high priests and priestesses of economics, the economic theorists, cannot get their ideas across without being able to construct a narrative around their economic modeling. The best theory papers are those with insightful modeling that also tells a good story. The eminent economist John Maynard Keynes famously stated, in his obituary of Alfred Marshall, that the ‘master-economist … must be mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher—in some degree. He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must contemplate the particular in terms of the general and touch abstract and concrete in the same flight of thought.’ Keynes, John M. 1924. “Alfred Marshall, 1842-1924.”The Economic Journal 34 (135): 311-372. Academic economists these days tend to collaborate, so that they can pool their skills at story-telling and at quantitative analysis and at historical understanding. (And they are also learning to drop gendered pronouns where appropriate.) But it is still the case that the gap between fiction-writing and economics is not as great as some people might imagine.

I couldn’t stop the weekly outbursts of violence next door. Today I'd speak up.

‘Working-class domestic violence is a common theme in modern literature, as anyone who reads fiction will know, but there is very little that covers middle-class domestic violence’. You can read the full article online at The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

Are Book Sales Growing Around the World?

Are you interested in learning which countries are experiencing a growth in booksales? If so, this blog is for you, and you may get a few surprises. The blogreproduces data from an email distributed by ASPG (a Member of the AustralianPublishers Association), and ASPG got the content from a survey article produced byImpelsys (http://www.impelsys.com/about-us/). Impelsys is an Indian-based digitalimprint publisher, who conducted a survey asking companies in the industry whichcountries and publishing markets they wanted to learn more about, which parts ofthe world they wanted to focus on in the coming year. The results are reproduced initalics below:“1. Latin America.Latin America is the number one region of interest among those who took our survey.United by a common language, Spanish-speaking Latin America offers vast andvarying opportunities for the global book business. Improving economic conditionsand the rise of mobile access gives publishers more ways to reach their readers anddeliver content, whether that means ebooks or marketing messages. This isparticularly important in a region in which physical distribution between countriesposes a challenge.More recently, Latin American publishers are looking to operate more independentlyof the Spanish groups that once dominated the continent. A number of small andindependent publishers have sprung up and enlivened the literary scene, in partbecause technology has lowered the cost of publishing.Government funding for both education and culture has enabled more LatinAmerican publishers to seize international business opportunities and to buildvisibility for home grown authors—through rights initiatives and attendinginternational events.Of course, challenges still face the fragmented continent, but as the book businesscontinues to develop across Latin America, opportunities for international publishersand service providers will continue to grow.2. Middle East.Second on the list is the combined interest in the Middle East region and the UnitedArab Emirates. Another hot region for publishing growth, the opportunities here aretwo-fold.Governments here are prioritizing education and literacy, and they are spendingmoney to make sure their students have access to the best learning materials. Also,in light of current events, there appears to be a growing interest in Europe and acrossthe West in better understanding Islam and politics in the Middle East.One challenge in the region is censorship, whether imposed by governments or byextremist and militant groups. Iran recently declared extended censorship policies,and the Saudi government continues to protest Salman Rushdie’s works.However, publishers’ associations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have stated that theywant continued discussions about the “freedom to publish” and that their priority isto support publishers.Despite cultural divides, international partnerships are starting to address some ofthe regional challenges—like distribution and piracy—and opportunities—like digitalpublishing and bookselling. Several organizations, among them the Sharjah Book Fairand the Sheik Hamad Award in Qatar, offer significant translation funding and fosterinternational cooperation.3. UK.With all the international outreach that the UK Publishers Association doesthroughout the year—particularly with their focus on copyright, professionaltraining, and the rights trade—as well as the global focus of many publishers andcompanies there, it’s no wonder that the UK ranks high on this list. The UK market isstrong, a promising place to find new business.One of the leading topics coming out of the UK recently is the growing strength ofprint book sales and relative stability of the bookselling business. Waterstonesremoved Kindles from its shelves last year citing low interest in the devices amidimproved print sales. Foyles is betting on a hybrid digital/print model for many of itsphysical stores. Across the country, chains and indie bookstores are reporting a rise inprint book sales.On the digital side of the business, many UK start ups and established companies arefocused on the future of publishing. Publishers are excited by the opportunities thatmobile can bring, and are seeking to better understand that medium.Authors in the UK are seeking a stronger voice and better pay. Most recently, anumber of prominent authors boycotted the Oxford Literary Festival to protest thelack of fees paid to authors who speak at such events. Earlier this month, the Societyof Authors with the US Authors Guild led an international coalition in demandingmore favourable terms in publishing contracts.4. Japan.In an effort to stem the decline of reading and book buying in Japan, booksellers arelooking for ways to expand their appeal, both domestically and internationally.Bookstore chain Kinokuniya has physical stores in multiple countries and is using itse-commerce platform Asian Basis as a way to further do business abroad.Kinokuniya has also started purchasing entire print runs of top books directly frompublishers to keep copies out of the hands of Amazon.Recently, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry operating under thenational “Cool Japan” campaign, has put a focus on manga and nonfiction, asopposed to literary fiction. This strategy might just be the right one, given theinternational success of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and other similarlifestyle books from Japan.Interestingly, YA and juvenile books are not yet an established book category inJapan. For rights sellers, this could mean that pitching YA titles to Japan could be achallenge.5. Spain.Perhaps because Spain shares its language with Latin America, because so manySpanish publishers have Latin American offices, or because of the number ofpublishing start ups originating here, Spain appears at number five on our list.The Spanish Publishers’ Federation (FGEE) asserts that Spain’s book market is “highlycompetitive” with other European markets like the UK, France and Germany. TheFGEE argues that Spain’s publishers are committed to digitizing their businesses andcontent, and there is a new initiative to fight piracy. Not everyone agrees with thisrosy picture.On the digital front, there are a number of start ups that do bear out the FGEE’s viewof Spain as digitally focused. 24symbols has made great strides in bringing mobilebooks to readers around the world. Nubico is working in the ever-evolving ebooksubscription business, and Odilo, an ebook and audiobook distributor to libraries isexpanding around the world. There’s Tekstum, offering big data analytics to Spanishpublishers; and there’s Mylibretta, which offers social media analytics for publishers.And last fall, two Barcelona-based literary agents launched The Spanish Bookstage,an online rights and licensing platform for Spanish-language book titles.”Thanks to ASPGhttp://australianselfpublishinggroup.comfor distributing thisinformation.