A MYSTERIOUS name in Heather Whiteford Roche’s family history nudged the first time author to put pen to paper.
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The lead character in Roche’s book, Finding Eliza, is Knill McMillan – a name drawn from her family tree.
“A fair way back (in my family) there is a Knill. It was always a mysterious name that fascinated me,” Roche said.
Knill’s adventures aren’t based on an real-life mysteries but his name alone drove Roche into her story.
“He became larger than life and a natural lead protagonist,” she said.
Based in Ballarat, Roche has been working on her debut novel for eight years.
“I wasn’t always writing but I got to a stage where I knew I had completed the story I set out to tell,” she said.
“In a practical sense I put timelines on it and said ‘I’m going to completely finish it’. That’s when I got into some serious editing and polishing to get it ready to publish.”
In her professional life, Roche is a family councillor.
“All my life I have been a big reader and dabbled with poetry and short stories,” she said.
“But in working with families that have been displaced or had adoptions, I have always been interested in (family) attachment.
“So naturally, when I write I am thinking about how those characters are attached.”
The theme of attachment is clear in Roche’s Finding Eliza when lead character Knill McMillan is set out on a path of discovery.
“Knill unexpectedly discovers something that sends him on this journey to find out more about himself,” Roche said.
“I find when someone finds out they are not who thought they were, it opens a whole space about how go about understanding themselves.”
Set in 1920s central Victoria, Roche takes Knill all over the region including Castlemaine, Bendigo, Maryborough, Collingwood and the tiny town of Majorca.
“Having grown up in Maryborough, I was very familiar with central Victoria and areas like Bendigo, Castlemaine and Ballarat,” Roche said.
“The whole region is really where I am most comfortable. So I was quite naturally drawn to the areas I understood most.
“Central Victoria was a space that I didn’t know I knew well until I started writing.”
Finding Eliza will be launched at Majorca Hall at 2pm on Sunday, April 22.
To find out where the book will be sold visit www.heatherwhitfordroche.com
You can also email heatherwhitfordroche@gmail.com