Regional Australian novelist, Fleur McDonald is taking her readers back to the fantastic backdrop of regional Western Australia, with eclectic and personable sweep of characters that leave readers wanting more.
Poignant and powerful, Fleur’s newest novel ‘Voices in the Dark’ follows charming Sassi Stapleton, who rushes home following a worrying phone call from her mother. Hurrying home to Barker, she swerves to miss a kangaroo and rolls down an embarkment.
By the time she is discovered, Sassi hears the unfortunate news that her grandmother had passed away.
For the Stapleton family, it becomes clear that her grandfather is not able to live by himself, and Rasha enters the home, as his carer.
Mr Stapleton is happier than ever, however bruises begin to appear on his skin. The question is raised, but who would hurt Mr Stapleton: Sassi, his granddaughter, Amber, his daughter, or Rasha, his carer?
“The idea came when I was on my last book tour,” Fleur explained.
“I was driving on the Hume Highway, coming from Canberra, when this ute flew past me at a really rapid rate. That’s pretty keen on the Hume Highway, when I’d already seen three cop cars. Later on, I saw the ute pulled off the road, and I saw the driver, a lady, with her head on the steering wheel, upset, and I wondered what happened, to make her so suddenly upset.
“That’s where the opening scene of ‘Voices in the Dark’ came from.”
From there, the story of ‘Voices in the Dark’ appeared before Fleur.
“More often than not, it’s actually just sitting down, swearing at the computer, and knowing that what you’ve written is absolute crap, and just going back and editing it later,” Fleur laughed.
For Fleur, she attempts to make sure that every one of her over 20 books are different.
“I don’t want people to read the book thinking, ‘oh yes, I’ve read this before, but it’s just different characters so I really try to make every book different from what I’ve written before.”
What can readers expect from ‘Voices in the Dark’?
“That’s a bit of a thought-provoking question!
“’Voices in the Dark’ is a trademark Fleur McDonald, with fantastic suspense, with the quaint loveable characters, and just a really good rollicking story; our world is pretty crappy at the moment and anything that I can do to help people escape from that reality.”
Robyn Batman, from Whitsunday Libraries, says that the library team is extremely thrilled to have Fleur visiting Bowen with her new novel.
“She is much loved and widely read in our region,” she explained.
“There is so much excitement of her visit. The local newsagents will have her books ready on release day, and us at the library will have her book ready on hand for her visit.”
WHAT: Fleur McDonald ‘Voices in the Dark’
WHEN: Saturday November 4, from 10.30am
WHERE: Bowen Library
Fleur McDonald visits Bowen on tour with her new book, ‘Voices in the Dark’. Photos supplied
