LAURA MCCLUSKEY is a Naarm/Melbourne writer, editor and actor who has penned several film and TV projects for her production company, Sibylline Films. The Wolf Tree is her debut novel.
She recently spoke with Good Reading’s foreign correspondent Craig Sisterson.
Read Good Reading’s book review of The Wolf Tree
What inspired you to write an atmospheric, Gothic crime thriller set on a remote Scottish island as your first novel?
My grandad was born and raised in Glasgow, so I’ve always felt a real pull towards Scotland. Whenever I’ve had an opportunity, I’ve travelled to Scotland. I set The Wolf Tree there because I came across a true, spooky story about these lighthouse keepers who disappeared off an island off Scotland’s west coast back in 1900 or so. They’d settled on this tiny island, which was basically just a lighthouse with no community. When the replacement crew came to pick them up three months later, the men were nowhere to be found. There were a few weird things: a meal looked like it had been interrupted, two coats were missing, and the kitchen clock had stopped. There was this enduring mystery, to this day. I just wanted to come up with an answer for myself, which sparked The Wolf Tree.
What made you feel this story was one for a novel, rather than for stage or screen?
My dream, since I was a little, has been to be an author. I’ve studied journalism and work in screen and theatre, but I always knew being a published author was my number one goal.
It really just boils down to gut instinct for ‘where does this story belong, and where will this story best be told?’ With the level of detail and character exploration and the time I wanted to spend in George’s head, I knew the most satisfying way to do that and tell this story was with a book. With film, while you can do quite incredible character explorations, unless you’re doing a voiceover you don’t really get to know minute by minute what they’re thinking, feeling or experiencing. When I get an idea for something, it becomes pretty clear almost immediately where it belongs – is it for stage, screen or a book?
How did you create George, or DI Georgina Lennox, a fascinating heroine who’s freshly back on duty after massive trauma?
I think it probably helped that going into it I just assumed people would love George, despite how complicated I was making her. She’s 28 in this first book, the same age I was when I began writing it, so it felt like I was writing from a place of authenticity and how a 28-year-old thinks and acts, where the actions don’t always meet the emotions or motivations. All of these women around me, my friends of a similar age, are all wonderfully complex. I don’t always agree with everything they do, but I love them regardless of those decisions, because I understand the reasons behind them. When I was writing George, she kind of just leapt onto the page fully formed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura is a writer, editor and actor. As well as writing novels, she has penned several film and television projects for her production company Sibylline Films. Laura is also co-founder of Three Fates Theatre Company, and has performed across theatre, film, and television. The Wolf Tree is her debut novel. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne.
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