Libraries have played a special part in my life since I was a child so ‘Fran’ is a thank you to all the librarians who bring reading into our lives. Thanks also to Ilona from the Geelong Regional Library Corporation for enthusiastically filling me in on Baby Time and other library services for the under-fives.
Thanks to the Victoria Police Film and Television Unit for their wonderful advice on extradition laws and general crime information. Thanks to Rowan Swaney for all things hardware-store-related and the entertaining stories, and to Leah Cwikel who keeps me abreast of all things current in baby land. Lara, Emily and Michelle are my ‘go to’ women for everything concerning the ‘young twenties’, and Gabi Mansfield shared her love for, and in-depth knowledge of, all seven Harry Potter books. She suggested Cedric Diggory as the perfect character match for Lachlan. Thank you!
Thanks to Susie Lukis for information on women and homelessness, and to Theatre Works’ powerful production UnHOWsed. I drew on acquaintance connections to research this book and I wish to acknowledge Hilary, Dee and Dianne who put me in contact with some wonderful women. Thanks to Chioma, Senam and Christiana who generously shared and made me hungry with their descriptions of the foods of their homeland. I sampled a wide variety of food at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market’s African Food Festival and at Khartoum Centre in Footscray. Foodie Trails was also a valuable resource. Meg Upton answered my questions about gyros.
I want to give a huge shout-out to Kubra and Aima, who educated me on the Hazara culture, filled me with tea and spoke so enthusiastically about chives. Although I borrowed their names, the women in the book are fictitious. Special thanks go to my dear cousin Annie for sharing her life experiences.
Although Boolanga is fictitious, the area between Echuca and Wodonga on the Murray River is not. Thanks to Tania Goldman from Burramine for her lovely Airbnb and for answering questions like ‘Is the internet strong enough to watch Netflix?’ My husband and I took one for the team, spending a few days in the district sampling wine, local produce and the best balsamic reduction I have ever tasted. Rich Glen is worth a visit!
The team at HarperCollins do an amazing job reassuring me when story ideas won’t gel, smoothing out my writing, designing wonderful covers, generating buzz and getting the books out into the world. Thanks go to Rachael Donovan, Annabel Blay, Nicola O’Shea, Adam van Rooijen, Darren Kelly and his sales team, and Lisa White for the amazing cover design.
Writers are not always easy to live with—their minds are often lost in their fictional world rather than being in touch with domestic tasks, especially on deadline. Big thanks to Norm for being the support crew, house husband and book-tour/research driver, even if me ranting at him, ‘This plot won’t work’ takes him out on many bike rides. Thanks to Barton for all the banners, slideshows and website maintenance. Thanks to Sandon for always being happy to brainstorm book ideas and plot problems.
And thank you, dear reader, for reading A Home Like Ours. The choice of books is enormous and the book budget limited, so I appreciate the time and effort you expend on my books. I love meeting you on book tours, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and email. Please stay in touch; your enthusiasm keeps me writing.
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
Growing and sharing food as a path to understanding different cultures is a big part of A Home Like Ours. What are your experiences of sharing food and culture?
Displacement is a big theme in the book. Discuss how each of the main characters experiences displacement.
Racism comes in many forms: overt, cultural, religious, economic and unconscious to name a few. What types of racism do the women in the book experience?
Research on volunteering shows that the volunteer receives more in the way of joy, fulfilment and connection than they give. If this is true, why do you think many voluntary groups struggle to fill positions? What are your experiences with volunteering?
People with a chronic illness/disability often find themselves discriminated against. Does this differ from racism? In what ways?
Homelessness is a human rights issue. Helen can hide her homelessness but Fiza cannot. What do Fiza and Helen share in common? Does this impact on their acceptance in the community?
It’s incredibly challenging to rise out of poverty and wanting it isn’t enough. How many levels of support are necessary to break the poverty cycle? Do you think assumptions are made that well-educated people are protected from poverty?
Tara says in frustration of her friends, ‘If Jon had been diagnosed with cancer, the footy club would hold a fundraiser. If he’d died, our friends would rally around…knowing I’d eventually get back on my feet and there’d be an end date.’ Why do you think chronic illness is treated differently?
ISBN: 9781489298683
TITLE: A HOME LIKE OURS
First Australian Publication 2021
Copyright © 2021 Fiona Lowe
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