Horsham is the setting of Lyn Yeowart’s new novel ‘The Hollow Girl’, and where she will be interviewed by local historian Pam Cupper before hosting a writing workshop.

Formerly from Horsham, Yeowart taught at its high school in the 1980s; she said she wanted to pay homage to her years in the rural city, and even mentions bakery The Oven Door and nightclub La Fontana.

“Because the book is set in a home for unmarried mothers, of which there were a lot in the 1960s and ’70s, I wanted it to be a bit remote, and Horsham certainly was that then, in terms of the highway and without things like the internet,” she said.

“When I was living in Horsham, I always thought the weather was quite extreme – it was really hot in summer and freezing in winter – and I wanted that to play a role in the book.

“I also wanted a location that I have a lot of attachment to and fond memories of.”

Yeowart said the story’s fictional home for unmarried mothers was based on the experiences of a friend, and on her research on forced adoption.

“When I started researching, I was honestly astounded by how rife it was in Australia – no one’s entirely sure, but they think there were about 250,000 babies taken from their mothers,” she said.

“One thing that really astounded me was nearly everyone I told the subject of my new book to would say things like, ‘oh, my mother/my aunt/my next-door neighbour’s mother was sent to one of those places’. 

“One woman said to me, ‘I was one of those women’, that rocked me, and then one day I was telling a friend of mine who I’ve known for decades, and he said, ‘oh, I was one of those babies’. 

“There were a lot of people affected – there were 250,000 women and 250,000 babies – that’s 500,000 people at a time when there was only about 12-million people in Australia. 

“Their families were affected, and the siblings, and half siblings, and children, and the long-term ramifications have also staggered me.”

Yeowart’s novel follows her first, ‘The Silent Listener’, a psychological thriller that has been shortlisted for awards, translated into French and Russian, and is being adapted into a television series.

Former high school colleague Cupper will interview Yeowart at Horsham Library on Wednesday, July 15 at 6pm.

Yeowart’s Horsham workshop, where she said she would share tips on novel-writing to prevent other people from making the same mistakes she did, is at 6pm on Thursday, July 17 at the library. 

Attendance for both sessions is free of charge but bookings are essential. People can visit www.wimmeralibraries.vic.gov.au/events for more information and to register. 

– Bronwyn Hastings

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