SOPHIE GREEN, bestselling author of The Bellbird River Country Choir and Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society, returns with a warm-hearted new novel about friendships, fresh starts and finding yourself.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Mornington Peninsula, 1999. Wife and now grandmother Joan has checked into the grand old Duchess Hotel to find herself again after 35 years of being who her husband and family have wanted her to be. Peninsula local and soon-to-be octogenarian Frances is distracting herself from getting old, and avoiding her self-interested son by escaping to the warmth of the Duchess where the hotel staff treat her like the person she still is.

Meanwhile Frances’s daughter, Alison, is trying to manage significant disruptions at home while hoping to finally prove to her mother that she’s just as worthy of love as her brother. New to the Duchess, hotel maid Kirrily is feeling the weight of a lifetime of responsibility, struggling to balance bills and work and family, and keeping thoughts of how there must be more to life at bay.

With its old-world glamour, sprawling seaside grounds and air of possibility, the Duchess Hotel might just be the place to help the women rediscover who they are and bring some spark back to their lives.

When Joan decides to pick up a brush and start painting for the first time in decades, she inspires Frances and Kirrily – and, eventually, Alison – to join her. Over canvas, conversation and creativity they will learn that you should always hold onto your dreams and that new friends can give you the courage to live life on your own terms.

Q&A WITH SOPHIE GREEN

What was the name of the street you grew up on?

The first was Gordon Street.

Favourite memories there?

Running in and out of the neighbour’s house, going to the nearby beach on an almost-daily basis, my little brother coming home.

What was your first pet and what was its name?

A Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Ben.

What was your first job?

Bookseller!

Did you always aim to work in publishing? What was the path that got you there?

No – I did a law degree and even though I’d worked as a bookseller for five years by the time I graduated, I didn’t think I’d work in books because it seemed like too much fun and I had to get a ‘proper job’! But it was by applying for a job as a contracts assistant in a publishing company that I came to work in publishing – because I didn’t get that legal job but I did start there as an editorial assistant.

When did you first think you would like to be a writer?

When I was a child, but it was a flight of fancy that I abandoned in my teen years and early working years.

What was the inspiration for your latest book, Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel?

One of the sparks for this story came in 2018, staying at a hotel in Melbourne and encountering a woman who had been there for several months. I wondered why she had been there for so long, after she told me she was ‘trying to figure some things out’. She was the inspiration for the character of Joan. But I didn’t necessarily want to set the book in Melbourne so instead thought about the Mornington Peninsula, and my mother mentioned Delgany in Portsea, which used to be a hotel and is now a private residence. It is the model for the Duchess.

Another spark was from living near Curlew Camp, the site of an artist camp in the late nineteenth century, the abode of Australian Impressionists Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, amongst others. I had a story idea for that in 2017 but it didn’t develop. In Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel Curlew Camp has its own role to play.

When planning a novel I try to think of an activity that can bring people together, as that’s the lynchpin for the story. The art class and the practice of art are central to the story as a means of showing that we need to take action to heal ourselves. And creativity is incredibly important for each person’s wellbeing.

What research did you do for this latest book?

Throughout my life I’ve gone to art galleries and museums in whichever cities I’ve visited, and I have collected several art books over that time which would come in handy for research. The book Some of My Lives by Rosamond Bernier was an inspiration, along with The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, Men & Monuments by Janet Flanner and Whistler by Frances Spalding. I also travelled to the Mornington Peninsula a couple of times, and over the years have gleaned information about Curlew Camp, which is mentioned in the novel.

Has there ever been a character in your books that you can’t seem to let go of, that stays with you more than others?

No, because they’re all equal – and all equally need to be let go of so they can belong to readers. And also so that I can get on with writing the next book!

Best books you’ve read recently?

Lies & Weddings by Kevin Kwan, Jackie by Dawn Tripp, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.