• What inspired you to write Girl of Sea and Sky, and how did you develop the unique blend of psychiatric experience and celestial imagery in the story?

I was inspired to write Girl of Sea and Sky when three events, two of which happened when I was a child, resonated with me so much so that I have never forgotten them.

When I was about eight years old, my mother and I were in our front garden. A woman, Betty, whom my mother knew, came along.

‘Good morning,’ she said to my mother. ‘Do you like the gold sovereigns in my hair?’

‘I do,’ said Mum. ‘They sparkle under the sun! They’re beautiful.’

After the woman had gone, my first question to my mother was what a sovereign was. My mum explained, but I was still confused.

‘But mum,’ I said, ‘you always tell us not to lie. She doesn’t have anything in her hair.’

Mum turned to me and said, ‘Correct, we don’t see them, but she does. Her brain works differently from yours and mine. It’s not wrong or right, it’s just different. And if you ever come across people like Betty, you must always treat them with kindness and respect and make sure others do as well.’

That was my first brush with people who had schizophrenia.

The second experience was when my mother and my grandmother used to go to a psychiatric hospital to visit men who had returned from the war and were suffering from what Nanna termed ‘shell shock.’ Years later, I understood PTSD, but I always remembered to be kind and respectful when we visited. Even as a child, I wanted to understand why these men were in the hospital. I wanted to know their stories.

The third event was in a creative writing class, where all participants had to bring in a photograph and swap it with another writer. I was given a photo of a girl staring out over rooftops in a big room. I wondered where she was. In prison? Hospital? I decided she was trapped in a psychiatric hospital, and the whole idea took off.

Our well-being is closely tied to our environment, not only in terms of physical locations that can cause illness, death, and injury, such as where we live and work, and to exposure to chemicals, but also in creating spaces that are beautiful, soothing, aesthetically satisfying, and bring joy. My protagonist, Sarah, is not having a good time at home; her personal life is in a mess; she is keeping a dark secret and feels as though everything is unravelling. Astronomy keeps her focused. The patterns and behaviour of celestial bodies are a constant for her. They are consistent, seasonal and never let her down. I melded Sarah’s breakdown with her estranged relationship with Andromeda, despite the fact that the constellation was there all the time for her.

• The character Sarah has a profound connection with the constellation of Andromeda. Can you share how astronomy and mythology influenced her journey?

Sarah’s journey is influenced by the natural world. This is partly because she thinks no one would believe her if she told them what she experiences, so she has created a safe space with Andromeda and feels like there is no judgment from the constellation. Dr Magnusson suggests that Andromeda may be Sarah’s conscience in terms of self-talk, but Sarah, even after treatment and healing, maintains that she and the constellation are friends. After all, people talk to their cats and dogs, plants, to God or gods, so why not a constellation? Sarah understands the myths and stories about the constellations are no different to what goes on in the modern world; there is anger and jealousy, love,  revenge, virtues and vices, and she sees no

 She is a passionate amateur astronomer. When she looks at the night sky, it is a humbling experience that calms her down. It reminds her of how small we are compared to the universe. Sarah lives near the ocean and is in tune with its rhythms. She has extensive knowledge of sea creatures and collects shells. Whilst in her breakdown phase, Sarah shuns human contact but she never gets tired of the natural world. It offers a respite from her problems.

• The novel explores mental health and recovery with a compassionate lens. What message do you hope readers will take away regarding mental illness and healing?

Firstly, I’m not a psychologist; I’m a writer, but I did do a lot of research into psychiatric institutions, the history of them and different approaches in treating patients over the decades. There are some pioneers in the field who have realised that animals, gardens, and art therapy can contribute to people’s wellbeing, rather than white walls and straitjackets.

There was a time when a husband, if he got sick of his wife, could simply get a doctor at the gentlemen’s club to write an order for her to be detained in an institution. There were thousands of women who languished against their will in institutions. Sarah had the opposite experience, as Star of the Sea Hospital was progressive in every way.

Mental health has become a current topic, and there are more resources available than ever to help people. Thankfully, the stigma about not being well mentally is fading, and people are accepting that not everyone is ok all of the time. 

I think the message I would like readers to take away is this: you don’t have to do it alone. Don’t keep it to yourself.

In our work-obsessed, time-poor culture, it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that we have, coupled with stress, whatever that stress may be, whether financial, relationship, work, children, health problems, etc., and feeling you have to do what society tells you to do, but having friends who are supportive and listen makes a difference. I think that people have to find what calms them. I know from my own experience that going on safaris is great for me. I love being that close to animals and seeing them in their natural habitat.

• Art therapy and creativity play a significant role in Sarah’s rehabilitation. How important do you believe creative expression is in mental health treatment?

I did a lot of research for this novel, and I was a high school English teacher for twenty-three years. When young adults engage in activities that let their minds roam freely and are done without judgment or ranking, they produce the most amazing work.

 When I was doing my Masters in Writing, I did a paper on Outsider Art. Outsider Art is artwork created by self-taught artists. They operated outside the conventional artwork scene, even though Outsider Art is a recognised category. Outsider artists eschew formal training and value personal expression over technique and genre. It began in France in the 1940s, with Jean Dubuffet, an artist who worked with psychiatric patients. Art therapy has been shown to be beneficial for people with mental health challenges, but I think the creative arts benefit everyone. Creative expression, whether it’s painting, writing, singing, dancing, acting or sculpting, allows us to ‘play’ and play is something that is lacking in adult life with all its challenges. We don’t have to be good at it; we just have to find a medium to express ourselves and get into a ‘feel’ and let our subconscious go free for a while and see what we come up with.

• The character Elena has prosopagnosia, which is a rare and intriguing condition. How did you research and incorporate this disorder into the story?

I can’t remember when I first heard about prosopagnosia, but it intrigued me. Prosopagnosia is face blindness, where people cannot recognise faces. 3% of the Australian population has it, 1% has a severe form and 2% a mild one. 1 in 30,000 acquire it from brain trauma or stroke. Brad Pitt has it.

The best example I came across was written by a prosopagnosia sufferer, who explained it like this: When we look at a brick wall, all the bricks look the same. We’d have to have a huge magnifying glass to see the slight differences in the bricks, a bit of a colour difference here and a slight striation there. People look the same as well. Those with the condition need verbal and physical clues to tell people apart. It might be voice, or perfume, or gestures.

 I wanted Sarah to have a friend with something unusual, because Sarah is unusual in that she has a friendship with a constellation. It was necessary for the story that the two friends had something that few people could relate to, so that they bonded over their problems. When they finally confide in each other their reasons for coming to the Star of the Sea Hospital, neither is shocked or surprised. Sarah accepts Elena’s condition and her past, and Elena accepts Sarah’s friendship with Andromeda and the Miranda Moon Man, even though she had never met them. They simply do not question the ‘weirdness’ of the other’s situation.

I got a lot of help from the people in the Psychology Department at Macquarie University. There was a professor there and a team who were researching the condition, and they were really helpful, sending me documents and pointing me in the right direction.

• The ending suggests a hopeful future for Sarah, intertwined with art and friendship. Without giving too much away, can you talk about the role of community and connection in the healing process?

I didn’t want to write an ending where the main characters go off into the sunset and live happily ever after. There are enough of those novels out there. I wanted something that reflected real life more, with the possibility of different types of relationships happening.  Situationships, living together apart, and other types. I wanted to leave the possibilities open for Sarah and Alejandro. The relationships in the novel are more about finding people who you can relate to and who go with you on the journey, no matter how rocky and uncomfortable it might get. I think what makes people better writers is existing in uncomfortable spaces, sitting with experiences and feelings that you’d rather not have and sitting with the tension that arises out of that. We tend to want to quickly ‘solve’ everything, and when that’s not possible, it tests us to some degree and forces us to assess how we might live with it. Out of that comes self-assessment, reassessment and often a narrative.

Relatable people might not necessarily have the same experiences that you’ve had, but they listen and try to understand without judgment. Sarah was isolating herself from everyone until certain people came along, quietly persisted with her, listened, and accepted what she had to say. Finally, she began to thaw. Community and connection in this novel are more important than romantic relationships or sexual ones (although there is a small sex scene – it’s small because they get interrupted – ha!) It’s more about finding your tribe.

Girl of Sea and Sky is now available for order here and from all fine bookshops.