Acclaimed Newport children’s author Claire Saxby said her latest book about an Irish girl in colonial Melbourne is a story relevant to today’s youth.
“I think we should try because of the ever-repeating cycle of condemning newcomers other than for the reason they are new,” she said.
“That has a currency for young readers.”
Ms Saxby, 61, is one of three authors shortlisted in the Children and Young Adult Category in this year’s ARA Historical Novel Prize for her fictional book ‘The Wearing of the Green’.
Six years in the making, the novel is set in 1850’s Melbourne and explores the difficult subjects of sexism, racism and classism.
“We owe our young people honesty and truth and if you frame it in the right way…it offers hope,” Ms Saxby said.
Her novel focuses on the 14-year-old Irish immigrant, Biddy, who comes to the colony as a domestic servant under the Earl Grey Scheme.
However, Biddy’s main reason for coming is to find her brother who escaped to the colony five years earlier after rebelling against the English.
She is lonely in the new land, works hard and struggles to find her brother.
But Ms Saxby said her protagonist has cause for optimism.
“I give her a way out,” she said.
“These elements of hope and courage are ageless.”
Judges have described Saxby’s historical research as “impeccable” with even the book’s title taken from the name of a 1790 Irish rebellion song.
Award winners will be announced on Thursday, October 20.
Details: www.clairesaxby.com
Dora Houpis
