Penguin Books Australia

Q&A: Carol George interview with Honey Brown author of The Good Daughter.

What inspired you to write The Good Daughter?
I was thinking back to when I was at school during the 1980s - a period not much written about - and how sexual harassment and bullying (sexual bullying), was sort of the 'norm.' After quizzing my daughter, I realised that thankfully, it doesn't seem to be the case today.
Back in my day it was pretty normal. We didn't talk about it much. And I know it seems extreme, but it didn't upset us because it was so normal.

Sexual bullying was accepted behaviour?
Yes, I think so. Girls accepted it and boys thought it was the thing to do. Everyone else was doing it, so . . .

Did it have much impact on you?
No, don't think so. I wasn't that exposed to it, but I saw it happening around me and embellished those experiences in The Good Daughter.

Were any of your girlfriends given a hard time?
Yes, they were.

The Good Daughter is very evocative of small town life?
Small towns are soo interesting - the book's setting is a bit of Tasmania along with all the small towns I've lived in. Tassie seems to have it in particular, all these really rich characters. Small towns have these great, really individual people who inspire you.

Your book exposes the warm-hearted aspects of small town life along with the more, brutal ones?
Yes and I love that good and bad, it's in all my writing. And in my characters, the play of those two elements. Everyone has that in them. And it's sort of what makes people interesting. And again, it's what makes the town interesting. It's not just a goody two-shoes town. It's this mix and that's always intriguing.

Thinking about that, there are the corrupt police, the rich, bullying land owner . . . in fact most of the men in The Good Daughter are not very nice people?
I know! I love men and as characters, I adore writing about them so I don't know why my male characters are often quite hard. But I hope that a softness that shines through towards the end.

As one who grew up in small towns, you've observed a lot of hard men?
I guess so. I've certainly been surrounded by hard men, really rural men. The real man's man - I seem to have a lot of them in the family. My husband's like that.

The same as your previous book, Red Queen, The Good Daughter has a very unnerving sense of menace about it?
Yes I don't know why that is. Some people say in that first line of Red Queen they get a bit shivery. I don't set out to do that, it just happens and I wonder if it's because my writing is minimal. Maybe when you pare back like that it sets people on edge?

It's a talent to be able to write like that.
I think it's my style. I would really like to be able write something light and funny but I can't! It's my natural way of writing and there's no way around it.

Have you ever been menaced?
Umm, I guess everyone has a little bit in their lives. Perhaps by writing I talk about it.
I choose to express myself through novels so I prefer not to talk about all the things that have happened to me.

So my instinct that something's happened to you at some point in your life is correct?
I don't know . . . I think lots of things happen to lots of people . . .

It doesn't take much to feel menaced though, does it?
Especially for a woman. I think a lot of the time men don't understand that. We go around locking doors and men say, 'why are you locking doors?' I think we feel naturally vulnerable.

Would you describe The Good Daughter as a thriller?
No, as an edgy drama. A drama with some really dark elements. It's just what comes out when I sit down and write. I don't write to fit any genre.

Do you read all sorts of books?
I read right across the board. I try to expose myself to lots of different stuff. I can't enjoy good trash any more though, like I used to. I used to read a lot of Mills & Boon as a teen. Then later, before I started writing, there was a whole lot of living and working and not much time for reading.
It wasn't until I decided to write that I went out and bought all the classics and studied and crammed over a period of 5-7 years. Read everything I could. Did my own training.

What did you set out to achieve in writing The Good Daughter?
I wanted to write a good story, something I was proud of and something people really enjoy. I don't push an issue but as I write, issues crop up. It's the characters that draw the plot to them. I always know how it's going to end, but the middle is a bit of a mystery.

Apart from sexual harassment, small town life and macho men, any other themes in The Good Daughter?
I also like the idea of that the past plays out in the present and the future. As my children grew up, I could hear myself sounding and saying things exactly like my parents. And doing the same things. It's quite unsettling because they are maybe things you didn't like in your parents. Even though you love them, you didn't want to turn into them. I love the idea that the past creeps up on you and that you fight against it.
I also like the way my story shows that isolation in a small town can happen to both ends of the scale. Rebecca's really poor and she's isolated because of that but Zac on the other hand, is really well off and popular but that still pushes him to the fringe.
I think that's why they're attracted to one another.

You began writing when you won a short story contest?
Yes I sent my first book, Red Queen to an ABC contest for Unpublished Manuscript of the Year, that was around about 2008.

What made you write Red Queen?
I started writing a short story about a woman who broke into a rural property and as I really liked the premise, I scrapped the story and turned it into a novel.

You've sold the movie rights to The Red Queen?
Yes, the director and producer have been looking at some of the country around my father's property in Mansfield and they are thinking of filming it there. There's even a cabin there they are looking at.

What prompted you to write the short story?
I don't know, just did I guess. The stories are in my head so I have to get them out.

No event in your life or extra time you had that gave you the space to write?
I suppose it perhaps started when I was having the children and finished working.
And I wonder if my accident sort of fast forwarded me to a place where women usually write which is probably in their 40s and 50s when they've got time.
We can multi-task but writing is something that if you really want to do it well, you have to give everything to it. It's so distracting to be a writer and a Mum and so many other things that women have to be.
In a way my accident has perhaps given me the space to concentrate.

How many children?
Two, eldest Madison is 13 and Tom is 11.

I know the accident in which you were crushed by a cow left you paralysed, but I also know that you've said these days you and your family are so used to it, you hardly notice it?
It's true, it happened back in 2000 and we've all adapted to it which is good, but there's a tinge of sadness to that too. When it happened I really fought the idea of acceptance. I was stubborn about it. Felt in a way that that would be giving in. It just goes to show the human condition, whether we like it or not, we will adapt.
But I am pleased that I cope better and that I do feel better about it and am content and happy again. Human nature has pushed me on.

Is it right you have no movement in your legs but you do in your arms?
Yes. I've got some feeling and movement in my legs but it is minimal. I can walk but I use callipers. I spend the majority of my time in a wheelchair because it is easier to get around.

It must have been a big shock when you were first told?
In a way I was never told - the doctors were lovely and always said there was a chance. But I felt it myself the moment it happened. That it was extreme and that you don't come back from that. I just knew that straight away.

Your back was broken wasn't it?
Yes, but it wasn't necessarily that. I just knew, 'right - this is major.' I knew everything would be different from then on.

Was it very painful?
Extremely, I don't think about it a lot or talk about it - as a family we never talk about it. It feels strange to be talking about but it doesn't upset me which is good.
I think it's the same as childbirth. I don't remember the pain as such. What I remember is the shock of the pain and absolute disbelief that something could hurt that much and that you could still be conscious.
The shock was like, awe-inspiring.

Was your husband there?
Yes, he was there with the vet because we were trying to herd this sick cow in and that was the cow that fell on me. Everyone there knew too that it was serious.

It must have been a terrible experience for your husband too?
He thought I was dying. He was just standing there waiting for it to happen. They sent a helicopter and it couldn't land because of the terrain, so another ambulance had to be sent. I'm not fully aware of how much time passed but it must have been quite a while because in that time my husband had rang a friend and he had come.
So there was a long period for my husband of just waiting.

Has he recovered from that emotionally?
We've talked about it from time to time but we don't really talk about it a lot.
I've got a feeling that's normal for families who have these shocking accidents.

How long you been together now?
Ten years.

Where were you living when the accident happened?
In Callignee in the Latrobe Valley.

You've moved around lots, lived in many different places together, haven't you?
Yes, travelled around Australia lots and I'm really pleased we did that when we were young.

You were following the work?
Yes (laughing), we were following the money. We were broke. That does give it a real different slant. I think people think it sounds romantic, but when you're really travelling to make a buck it's a whole different thing.

Yes it's much tougher and worrying, isn't it, not knowing if you'll have the rent?
Yes - and all that arguing. I think people imagine it's this fun time floating around in the sun, but it's actually fights and storming around (laughing) . . .

Ever go overseas?
John and I planned too, but I lost all my money in the Pyramid crash. Had the flights booked, we were going and then, bang.

Your partner is an agricultural worker?
By trade he's a diesel mechanic and a fitter and turner. But he worked in a lot of the mines.

How long have you been settled in the one place?
Not long (laughing) - been in Warragul nearly 4 years.

You breed those beautiful black-faced sheep?
Yes, black-faced Suffolk's, we have about 40 breeders. It's a lifestyle property. My husband works in irrigation as an irrigation technician. Or at least I give it that name (laughing) because I really have no idea what he does.

Size of your property?
About 40 hectares . . . I get confused between acres and hectares.

Me too, I've got the problem with feet and metres too . . .
Same here. I've accidentally made some people dwarves in my books - thank goodness for my editor.

A lovely place to live?
Yes it's soo beautiful here, green rolling hills, that story book look about it - really picturesque. Trouble is, it looks gorgeous but it takes so much maintaining.

Where is Warragul?
About an hour and a half out of Melbourne, just past Pakenham.

Your name Honey sounds hippy-like, but it was inspired by a billboard near Bairnsdale where you come from originally, wasn't it?
More a flaking old painted sign on some corrugated iron (laughing). Not quite up in lights. I think it said in huge letters, HONEY FOR SALE. It was mini landmark. But not an attractive one. Think all the townspeople felt relieved when it came down. Dad was a scrap dealer in the town.

Brothers and sisters?
Older sister and brother. But I didn't meet my brother until I was 15 because he was adopted out. But we're great mates. And it was a really positive and happy reunion.

Can I ask why he was adopted out?
They've since separated, but he was mum and dad's first born and they were quite young. And way back whenever that was, there was no way you could keep the baby. Mum was whisked away to Melbourne and made to give the baby up.
We were living in Tassie at the time of the reunion and I was a teenager, a real drama queen - so I didn't cope well at all.
He teases me a lot about it now and we're close.

So there was a very happy ending?
Yes - and he's a writer, for magazines and he's quite well known in the fishing world. He was a published writer before me!

How old are you, Honey?
37 or 38 . . . can't remember!

Describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, kind-hearted and creative.

And you love . . . ?
The environment, animals and people.
I have 2 dogs, a blind Labrador called Barbie, a springer spaniel called Banjo - and we've just got a new kitten called Jet. He's black and white. My husband and daughter took Banjo to the vet and they came home with Jet who had been abandoned. They couldn't leave it there.
The whole family's having a love affair with Jet - we're all smitten.