Good Reading for Kids caught up with AMELIA MELLOR to discuss her book The Lost Book of Magic, a magical adventure that concludes the story of The Grandest Bookshop in the World.
The Lost Book of Magic is the sequel to your award-winning novel The Grandest Bookshop in the World. What can fans look forward to or expect to see a return of in this novel?
This novel is set two years after The Grandest Bookshop in the World, and 24 years after The Bookseller’s Apprentice. Pearl Cole is now 12, and bursting with preteen fury. Her brother, Vally, is nearly 15, learning more about all the problems in the world and what he can do about them. Billy and Kezia from Apprentice, now in their mid-30s, have to be the responsible adults in this book! And the Obscurosmith is back, too – with catastrophic magical injuries that make him more dangerous and unpredictable than ever.
We’ll be returning to both Cole’s Book Arcade and its dark double, the Obscurosmith’s library. But this book also takes us all over Melbourne: from west to east and north to south, hunting rare treasures from around the world!
What challenges will Pearl and Vally Cole face in this novel?
Melbourne has fallen on hard times, and business has been so dismal at Cole’s Book Arcade that Mr and Mrs Cole are thinking of packing up shop and moving away for good.
Fuelled by love and rage, Pearl tries to save the bookshop with her developing magical skills, but when she makes a pact with a mysterious spirit to increase her power, she ends up getting more than she bargained for.
I think Vally might have the most interesting challenge. The only magician skilled enough to defeat the destructive spirit is the Obscurosmith – who has his own reasons for pursuing Pearl’s new friend! Billy, Kezia, and most of all, Val must cooperate with the Obscurosmith against their mutual enemy, while constantly staying on their guard for sneaky deals and double-crossings.
There’s also an army of living statues, a plague of monstrous plants, a heist, an escaped menagerie, an infinite room, and some of my most diabolical puzzles ever!
This story is set in 1895 – what can you tell us about this time in history?
The mid-1890s were a bit of a dark time for Melbourne. There are a few different terms for it: a depression, a recession, an economic crisis, a financial crash. Basically, money stopped circulating the way it was supposed to. Like the Great Depression of the 1930s, it was a widespread thing, but two reasons for it being particularly bad in Melbourne was that Gold Rush was over, and punishing drought and heatwaves took a heavy toll on farming – so we had less wool to sell to other countries, and less of our own produce to eat. The banks closed. Businesses closed. Tens of thousands of people left Victoria, searching for better opportunities. Those who stayed in Melbourne faced poverty, crime, increased racism, and widespread sickness – but Cole’s Book Arcade survived and continued to bring joy to a population that needed a little fun.
Honestly, all these crises striking at once reminded me of the world as it is now! I wanted The Lost Book of Magic to entertain and educate my readers as this marvellous bookshop did during the disastrous mid-1890s.
What’s something interesting you learned about Cole’s Book Arcade for this novel?
The real E W Cole – the inspiration for Pa Cole in my books – was always innovating. During the financial crash and widespread poverty of the 1890s, he did all kinds of things to try to put people first, and his own bank account second. He was always handing out money to beggars. He was determined not to fire staff just to protect his own business, and apparently, even refused to fire someone who got caught stealing out of the till! And a story I love to tell is about Mr Cole’s shoplifting policy – or rather, his lack of it. When shoplifting increased, and William Pyke asked what should be done about the thieves, Cole’s answer was ‘at least they will be educated thieves.’
He also opened Wonder Land, the funhouse, during this time. The fictional Cole’s Book Arcade already has a funhouse in Grandest, but I’ve added a new illusion: the Endless Wonders, based on a real attraction from this period called Cole’s Field of Gold. Cole’s Field of Gold was essentially a miniature infinity room – a surprisingly modern illusion, in which a painting was reflected endlessly with cleverly angled mirrors.
What was your favourite part of writing this book?
There are several things that I always enjoy, like writing dialogue and creating puzzles, but the practical research for this book was quite special. I won’t spoil the book too much, but one of Melbourne’s surviving scientific institutions generously gave me a tour of the facilities, and let me use scientific instruments from about the same time as the setting of my books. I have a real fondness for old machines and devices. The instruments still work, and I learned a lot from using them! There’s a scene in which Vally uses those instruments and is awestruck by what he sees, just like I was.
The Lost Book of Magic is the finale to ‘The Grandest Bookshop in the World’ series – how does it feel to say goodbye to this series?
Satisfying! With the first two books, I felt like there was still space to explore, and more that I could do. This time, I know it’s complete. The ending I’ve written is the best one this series could have. There are facets of Melbourne history that didn’t fit into the trilogy, for one reason or another, but I hope that leaves space for others to write more stories set in this time.
I’ve spent seven years on this series – nearly a quarter of my life. I’ll miss working with this cast of characters, but they’ve earned the ending I gave them, I think. Anyway, I don’t want to limit my imagination to the 19th century forever. My next series is already under construction, and I’m excited to be exploring a new world!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amelia Mellor began her writing career as her secondary school’s resident playwright in Year 11. As part of her creative writing course at the University of Melbourne, she completed a thesis on the reinvention of the Industrial Revolution in children’s fantasy literature. Her debut novel, The Grandest Bookshop in the World, has won an Australian Book Industry Award, an Indie Book Award, a NSW Premier’s Literary Award and a Booksellers’ Choice Award. When she isn’t writing, Amelia enjoys hiking, gardening and drawing.
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