Daniel Johnson
2 February 2015: Seven years ago University of Canberra alumna Brooke Davis found herself coping with the sudden death of her mother in a car accident. She has now drawn on this experience to form the underlying themes of her debut novel Lost & Found, which explores how different people deal with loss and grief. The book has struck a chord with readers, having already been named an Australian best-seller and sold for publication in 25 countries within months of its 2014 release.
| |
|
Lost and Found follows three unique characters through their journey in dealing with and understanding the loss of a loved one. There is Millie, a seven-year-old girl who was abandoned in a department store, Agatha, an 82-year-old who has become reclusive since the death of her husband, and Karl, an 87-year-old who escapes from his nursing home.
Dr Davis says she found the voice of these diverse characters through her own memories and experiences, with the child character Millie coming from how she dealt with the passing of her mother.
"Millie was a voice that came naturally to me … I think when you're grieving you become quite child-like and so it makes sense that the first voice I gravitated towards was that of a little girl. [Writing that character] was really interesting in terms of my own grief, because the book stems from the point in my life where my mum died."
As for the two elderly characters, Dr Davis attributes her ability to speak from their perspective to her close relationship with her own grandparents.
"I've always been interested in them and what they have to offer and kind of heartbroken by the way their points of view are dismissed because they're old. I think that's quite upside down, we should be listening to our elderly because they're the ones who have lived whole lives, but we just stop listening to them after a while. So I really wanted to try and get in their skin and present that plight."
Dr Davis is delighted with the reception of Lost & Found, saying the success of the novel has taken her by surprise.
"I was not expecting it in the slightest, I had super low expectations and I definitely feel pretty lucky that my book has found the right people at the right time, there is a really lovely sense of that all connecting."
| |
|
Dr Davis graduated with a Bachelor of Professional Writing from the University of Canberra in 2003 and went on to win a University medal for her honours work, saying that her time at the University helped to set a foundation for her success as a writer.
When I was at high school I felt like you couldn't be a writer as a job – that was what we were taught – but I decided to do it anyway and when I went to the University of Canberra I felt validated by what I saw as my passion. That was a very valuable lesson for me to learn, it gave me permission to follow my passion and I think a lot of artistic, creative types can find that difficult to give themselves."
Originally from Victoria, Dr Davis now juggles working at a local book store in Perth with writing full-time, having recently completed her PhD at Curtin University. She said she hasn't found much time for writing following the release of her debut novel, having done interviews and appearances Australia-wide and with an upcoming schedule of travelling internationally to the US, Canada and Europe to promote her book.
Dr Davis added some advice for other writing students who might wish to emulate her success.
"Just go to class is what I'd say. I took my degree at the University of Canberra so seriously – I went to every lecture, I went to every tutorial…I was thirsty for knowledge and help and wanted to become a better writer – which you're only going to become if you participate."
