Can you tell us about your new novel A Great Act of Love?
At the book’s heart is Caroline, a young widow of means who arrives in Hobart, Australia, with a boy in her care. It’s 1839, when Tasmania is still the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. Leasing an old cottage next to an abandoned vineyard, Caroline must navigate an insular colony of exiles and opportunists and invent a new life. But Caroline is carrying a secret of such magnitude, it has led her to cross the world.
A Great Act of Love is a story born in the French Revolution. It has murder, sea voyages, a boy indentured for a debt, a slave captured from Africa, a military hero who becomes one of colonial Tasmania’s most significant politicians and entrepreneurs, a father who has committed an unspeakable act, a fearless daughter determined to rewrite her fate, and sparkling wine …
You mention this was inspired by a true story. Can you tell us a little about what inspired this novel?
A Great Act of Love is drawn from two stories. In 2009 a famous winemaker told me a tantalising myth: a sparkling wine from colonial Van Diemen’s Land had won a wine award in Paris in the early 1800’s. I was intrigued and haunted by this story. How did this happen? Was it true?
I finished The Museum of Modern Love and wrote Bruny … always knowing the wine story was waiting for me. When I finally began my research, I discovered a strange connection. The vineyard producing the famous sparkling wine was very close to where my grandmother’s great-grandmother had settled in colonial Hobart. I felt a visceral thrill. I had only recently discovered that she was the daughter of a murderer. A story I had never expected to tell. But perhaps I could weave the two stories together.
And so A Great Act of Love began.
You’ve clearly undertaken extensive research into this period and the book features some lines of prose from fiction and poetry from this time. Why did you want to read these works in addition to non-fiction?
The poetry of the time gave me insights into the 1700’s and 1800’s. The way characters in a certain time see the world is very important for me in the crafting of my novels. Caroline was educated with an erudite father determined she would live a big life. And her mother also encouraged her to love poetry. Poetry is a lens through which to consider our humanity. And I’ve always loved The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It’s a visceral tale of regret. That felt very important for this book.
What do you hope readers get from reading A Great Act of Love?
I hope readers find themselves immersed in the global world of the 1700’s and 1800’s. I hope they love Caroline, Quill, Cornelius and the cast of characters that populate the book. The early 1800’s was a period in some ways very similar to now. There was social upheaval, slavery, colonisation and immigration born of industrialisation and global trade. A privileged elite was hanging on to power by all means possible. Governments were relentless in suppressing dissent. People from all parts of the world were emigrating to find a better life for their families.
This book invited me to understand that all humans are survivors of immense hardship and violence, if we look back far enough into history. It’s good to understand that, to understand the cultural and social impact we have made, and to find a way to live with the difficult truths of the past.
But we are also born of a lineage of women who did all they could to ensure a better future for their children and their descendants. Courage is a great act of love.
What a beautifully written exploration of history and human courage — A Great Act of Love sounds absolutely captivating. I love how it connects personal stories with larger moments in history like the French Revolution and colonial Tasmania.
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