Alison Brideson (writing as Alison Stuart) lives in Williamstown, which makes an appearance in her latest book The Postmistress. She speaks with Goya Dmytryshchak.
What’s your connection to Hobsons Bay?
I was a nomad. By the time I was 25, I’d lived in Africa and Perth before my parents settled in Melbourne. I yearned for somewhere to put down roots and where I could become part of the community. Somewhere I could belong. My now husband had settled in Williamstown to be close to his work and instantly I knew this was the place. We have been here ever since 1983. You will have to dig me out with spades. I am never leaving.
What do you like about Williamstown?
I love its small town feel. I feel as though I belong here. I can walk down the street and see people I know, who all smile and say hello. It’s hard to think we’re part of an ever growing big city. I also love that there’s water all around because apart from being wonderful feng shui, it is the perfect place for long, thoughtful, inspiring, writerly walks!
What don’t you like or what could be improved?
The unrestrained development that has been permitted in recent years fills me with despair. It is eroding the very essence of Williamstown that draws people to us. Old buildings are going and that sense of village where everyone knows each other is being lost. I am not anti development but I do believe it has to be sensitive and sustainable.
What’s your favourite cafe and/or restaurant in the local area and why?
Parade Deli for Jo’s ‘Healthy One’ breakfast and Cafe Cirino for the dark, hot chocolate but I particularly love The Greenery in Ferguson Street, which is both cafe and restaurant.
Can you tell me about your latest book?
The Postmistress is my ninth book, but my first set in Australia. It’s based around the goldfields of Gippsland in the 1870s. It is a story of love, duplicity, new starts and fleeing from old ghosts. The hero bears the scars of his service during the American Civil War and the heroine is fleeing a puritanical father who won’t forgive her for what he perceives are her sins. They are both seeking a new life and a new start in the goldfields around the fictional Maiden’s Creek, but before they can move forward they must deal with the ghosts from their past.
Williamstown gets a cameo in the book. Can you tell us about that?
How could I not include Williamstown in a story of the early days of the colony? Williamstown’s connection with the confederate war ship, the CSS Shenandoah, was one of the major inspirations for the story so it seemed appropriate that my confederate hero begins his new life in Australia with a two-up game in a pub in Williamstown. It was so much fun imagining my own hometown back in its wild and woolly days!
The Postmistress will be launched at Williamstown library on Sunday, July 21 at 3pm. See the Hobsons Bay Libraries website for details.
