The Shifting Light
Page 35
Truth and trust are other strong themes. In this book the truth – and hence the ground – keeps shifting around our characters and so do allegiances. We examine how people cope with change or how they react when things aren’t what they seem to be. It was great to throw our old characters alongside new, challenging ones – Lachlan, for example – and to watch the resulting fireworks.
There are some serious social issues mixed in with the narrative – did you intend from the outset to address these?
No, we didn’t. They arose organically from the realities that exist in the sort of communities our characters inhabit. Things like sustainable farming and the role of Indigenous culture are part of the fabric of the outback. Moira’s character was one we all respected and liked from the beginning and we wanted to keep her as a strong presence in this book. A lot of the Indigenous issues flowed from this. Farming in a responsible and yet profitable way is a dilemma that young graziers like Heath are faced with every day.
Other issues were more specific to our characters. We needed conflict and problems that needed to be overcome – things that would test our characters and bring out the best and the worst about them. They sparked interesting discussions over things like what sort of childhood trauma Izzy might have endured and the likely outcome of that. Other dilemmas were closer to home, such as what level of paraplegia Ben might have and what he was capable of sexually. It was interesting placing Hilary and Moira in conflict around the ball. The outcome reveals a lot about each of them.
Where has publishing a book taken Alice?
None of us were prepared for the thrill of getting published. To promote The Painted Sky, the Alices have enjoyed some remarkable opportunities. So many people are interested in who Alice Campion is and this amazing ride we’ve been on.
Alice has been interviewed extensively in the press and on radio and has appeared at writers’ events, libraries and book stores from Cowra to Kobe, Japan!
Our tour to the Central West of New South Wales was particularly special, as it took us back near to where we set our stories. In a tiny library in Cowra, we were really touched to meet women from a remote book club who had the idea of writing a novel together. They had travelled vast distances to meet us and we hope they followed through on their dream. Their experience inspired the Scattered Leaves book club in The Shifting Light. (Yes, a book club wrote a book that inspired a book club to write a book, and featured that book club in their next book!)
We also visited libraries and book stores to talk to keen readers and writers throughout Sydney, Victoria and the NSW Central Coast. We also presented sessions on collaborative writing for the NSW Writers Centre, Writers Victoria (The Wheeler Centre), the Women’s Club and the NSW Society of Women Writers. The inaugural St Albans Writers Festival found us revisiting one of our book club’s favourite ‘secret’ meeting places. Alice Campion was also invited to the Japan Writers Conference which saw us presenting to academics in a lecture theatre one afternoon and then mixing it up with a reading at an avant-garde bar that night!
The only thing that doesn’t seem to change is the fascination people have around the idea of a group of women writing novels together.
There is a lot of humour in The Shifting Light – was it fun to write?
Let’s just say that there was a lot of spluttering of coffee and wine and many, many moments when we were all doubled over in laughter. Having said that, there were days and weeks when it was very hard to write – we all had a lot happen, good and bad, in our lives in the past couple of years. But here is where the benefits of group writing kicked in. When one of us was flagging, the others stepped up. When one of us was uncertain, others were there to inspire and encourage. Our meetings sometimes became a bit of a sanctuary where we could focus on a world outside of our own. Writing a book is not easy – and we are proud of the time and effort we spent on this. But it was time and effort shared with friends – which also made it a special and treasured experience.
READING GROUP QUESTIONS
Warning: Spoilers
Parent/child relationships feature in The Shifting Light. To what extent do they shape the characters and their actions?
What role does art play in the novel?
How does the colloquial language contribute to place and character in The Shifting Light?
Of all the characters, Hilary changes the most. How and why?
How does switching between scenes when Nina and Hilary are in peril add to the tension?
When and how did your perception of Lachlan change?
The Shifting Light is about shifting allegiances. How do these play out?
How well do the social and racial tensions examined in the book reflect the realities of rural life?
What bearing does Izzy’s childhood have on her adult life?
What does the way Heath deals with the environmental issues facing farmers today reveal about his character?
THE PAINTED SKY
Alice Campion
Nina never knew what happened to her father, the celebrated artist Jim Larkin. One minute he was her devoted dad, the next he ’d disappeared without trace. Seventeen years later, she’s still haunted by the mystery.
Until a call from outback Wandalla changes everything.
At first, Nina’s inheritance of a waterless property and a farmhouse stuffed with junk seems more like a burden than a gift. But this was her father’s childhood home – and possibly her last chance to discover the truth.
So what is the local solicitor, Harrison Grey, not telling her as he hands over the keys? Why does the area’s wealthiest resident, Hilary Flint, seem to hate her so much? What is the significance of the gold locket with cryptic engravings that Nina always wears?
And why, on top of everything, is she inexplicably drawn to her soon-to-be-married neighbour, Heath Blackett?
AVAILABLE NOW
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Penguin Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
The Shifting Light
ePub ISBN 9780143781103
First published by Bantam in 2017
Copyright © Jenny Crocker, Jane Richards, Jane St Vincent Welch, Denise Tart 2017
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Bantam book
Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.penguin.com.au
Addresses for the Penguin Random House group of companies can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Campion, Alice, author
The shifting light/Alice Campion
ISBN 978 0 14378 110 3 (ebook)
Fathers and daughters – Fiction
Family secrets – Fiction
Country life – Fiction
Cover design by Christabella Designs
Cover images: © Drunaa/Trevillion Images (field); © Arcangel (house)
Ebook by Firstsource
lter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share