After the Darkness
Page 27
More a flaking old painted sign on some corrugated iron (laughing). Not quite up in lights. I think it said in huge letters, HONEY FOR SALE. It was mini landmark. But not an attractive one. Think all the townspeople felt relieved when it came down. Dad was a scrap dealer in the town.
Brothers and sisters?
Older sister and brother. But I didn’t meet my brother until I was 15 because he was adopted out. But we’re great mates. And it was a really positive and happy reunion.
Can I ask why he was adopted out?
They’ve since separated, but he was Mum and Dad’s firstborn and they were quite young. And way back whenever that was, there was no way you could keep the baby. Mum was whisked away to Melbourne and made to give the baby up.
We were living in Tassie at the time of the reunion and I was a teenager, a real drama queen – so I didn’t cope well at all. He teases me a lot about it now and we’re close.
So there was a very happy ending?
Yes – and he’s a writer, for magazines, and he’s quite well known in the fishing world. He was a published writer before me!
How old are you, Honey?
Thirty-seven or thirty-eight … can’t remember!
Describe yourself in three words?
Curious, kind-hearted and creative.
And you love … ?
The environment, animals and people.
I have two dogs, a blind labrador called Barbie, a springer spaniel called Banjo – and we’ve just got a new kitten called Jet. He’s black and white. My husband and daughter took Banjo to the vet and they came home with Jet, who had been abandoned. They couldn’t leave him there. The whole family’s having a love affair with Jet – we’re all smitten.
PRAISE FOR HONEY BROWN
RED QUEEN
‘A taut psychological thriller … the most filmic of stories.’ Sun-Herald
‘A cracker of a thriller involving a peculiar menage a trois camped out in the bush. There’s a good chance you may miss your train or bus stop, or show up to work with Vuitton-like bags beneath your eyes from a sleepless night trying to race to the last page.’ Vogue
‘These characters are superbly drawn and Brown’s manipulation of her stylish, erotic, unusual cinematic story firmly places this novel into the welcome league of the must-reads.’ Courier Mail
‘A prevailing mood of menace and threat in a frightening world make this first book a promising debut.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Two brothers, one woman and a virus make Red Queen a compelling read.’ Sunday Tasmanian
‘A taut, unsettling thriller that never takes the easy or expected way out of any situation … Red Queen is a great read – definitely an author to watch.’ HorrorScope
THE GOOD DAUGHTER
‘A thrilling read – one that captures the brutal essence of Australian small-town life, in which characters shift along a sliding moral scale. Honey Brown’s writing carries the same dark, atmospheric weight of Sonya Hartnett’s books, with an authenticity that will resonate with teenage as well as adult readers, particularly fans of crime fiction.’ Bookseller+Publisher
‘A force to be reckoned with … [Brown is] a gifted novelist and a natural writer, her style subtle, elliptical and spare. There’s something shatteringly archetypal about The Good Daughter, as though Brown has somehow hit an artery in the soul. It recalls songs, stories, movies, novels and writers from both Australia and the US, from Annie Proulx and Cormac McCarthy to Kenneth Cook’s classic Wake in Fright.’ Sydney Morning Herald
‘Engaging as hell … Filled with more lowlifes than a sports bar on Friday night, and brimming with tense scenes.’ Australian Book Review
‘Brown is a masterful storyteller, building tension as lives and reputations unravel and tempers explode.’ Sunday Tasmanian
Honey Brown lives in country Victoria with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, Red Queen, was published in 2009 to critical acclaim and won an Aurealis Award. Her second novel, The Good Daughter, was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award.
VIKING
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2012
Text copyright © Honey Brown 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted
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ISBN: 978-1-74253-451-0