Good Reading caught up with author PRUE MASON to discuss Max: Through My Eyes – Australian Disaster Zones, a suspenseful story of survival and resilience inspired by the 2022 Brisbane floods.
Max: Through My Eyes is inspired by the 2022 Brisbane Floods – why did you want to tell this story?
We were about to move house and writing a new novel wasn’t uppermost in my mind in February 2023. Then I was contacted by Lyn White, the series editor of the successful ‘Through My Eyes’ series. She told me she was working on the last series which was to be about Australian disasters and she asked if I was interested in writing the last book of the series about the 2022 floods in Brisbane. I barely hesitated before I said yes. I realised I wanted to write this story because it had only been the year before and my own experiences of that flood were still vivid because we were living in the Moreton Bay region which had been severely impacted.
Our small town of Beachmere had been cut off for two days by water across the only two incoming roads. During that time we lost power and drinking water. Because our house is built up on concrete stumps we only suffered minimal damage but a number of our neighbours were not so lucky. There was a lot of help with sandbagging more vulnerable homes and, as the power cut continued, our local IGA opened its doors and allowed those who needed it to take food that would go off otherwise. Through the community Face Book page (while phones remained charged), people asked for help moving their animals that included goats, horses, cows, dogs and cats to safer grounds and there was always a positive response. During this time, it never stopped raining.
Updates and conditions of the Brisbane River were being given by the Bureau of Meteorology but there were no reports on state of the overflowing creeks. What caught people in Brisbane by surprise was the fact that suburbs, particularly on the northern side that had never been flooded before, were inundated as homes and businesses were filled with muddy water from the creeks that had burst their banks.
During the flooding the rain did not stop and in five days Brisbane recorded over 1,100 milimetres. As one of the characters in the story points out the astonishing facts: the equivalent of three Sydney Harbour’s full of rain had arrived in the dams upstream while, in three days of non-stop rain Brisbane received more rain downstream than London gets in a whole year.
The continual heavy rain was oppressive but the way neighbours helped each other was inspiring so although my book is fictional it is based on real life events. I am pleased to be able to highlight the courage and resilience of human nature when we find ourselves in extreme weather situations. Most of all I wanted to write a story that is exciting for children readers but one that also gives a sense of hope that we can learn to adapt and develop strategies that will allow these same children to grow up and live with our changing environment.
What kind of challenges will Max and his family face?
Because Max and his family choose to live in Brisbane which is built on a floodplain one of the main challenges they face is the risk of being flooded when there are extreme weather events. They also face the challenges of trying to conserve natural habitats at a time when the concept of city’s progress is equated to city growth.
What was involved in your research process for this book?
In my research process I read many books, checked out many websites plus talked to a lot of people. One book I read that stood out for me and helped me understand how and why it floods in Brisbane is A River With A City Problem by Margaret Cook. I quickly learned that building a city on a flood plain is a very bad idea. Unfortunately, this is what has happened in Brisbane so since the city was first established by European settlers it’s suffered many flooding experiences and will continue to do so. Technology, new regulations and conserving mangrove habitats are helping minimise the damage but the risk of flooding remains.
As I began my research I also had to learn a lot more about mangroves than I’d known before despite living in Beachmere which is an important mangrove habitat. I soon learned that mangroves are truly amazing. They not only reduce coastal erosion but act as a filter from the land to the ocean. They support bio diversity by offering homes to birds, crustaceans and even baby sharks plus they store carbon so they can help reduce global warming. Definitely, absolutely, completely mangroves are the Super Heroes in my book!
I also had to learn more than I knew before about migratory birds. Who knew that Eastern Curlew flies the equivalent of a trip to the moon and back in its life time of flying from Siberia to the east coast Australia and back again, over and over again?
One of the themes of this book is homelessness as I particularly wanted to highlight this growing social issue in Australia. The statistics of the state of homelessness in Australia are shocking. On any night around the country more than 100,000 people don’t have a home to go to. Nearly a quarter of these people are between the ages of 12 and 24 years old.
My research at times was a heart-breaking process but I do believe that reading stories that highlight important issues is one way of beginning to learn how to solve our problems and I have a lot of faith in our future generations.
Are any of the characters in this book shaped by real people?
All the characters are shaped by real people I know but none of them are based on one particular person. I like to think my favourite character, Bianca, with her brains, her environmental passions, and brilliant dress sense is based on various aspects of my own nieces and grand-nieces who are all growing into extraordinarily wonderful human beings.
What are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading The Fabulous Flying Mrs. Miller by Carol Baxter. I’m reading this book for research purposes because my next writing project is about an amazing Australian Aviatrix called Jessie Miller who was the first woman to fly, as a passenger from England to Australia in 1928.
What do you hope readers take away from your novel?
I hope that reading this book will raise awareness of the main themes in the book – the challenges of the changing environment, homelessness and inspirational courage in extreme situations.
What I’d particularly like readers to take away from this book though is the realisation that being brave is a choice. Choosing to be brave doesn’t stop a person being scared but being scared doesn’t have to stop anyone from being brave.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
After growing up in Australia, Prue Mason travelled Australia and the world as a flight attendant and sometimes co-pilot on a private aeroplane with her husband, a professional pilot. They lived in Canada for three years, then the Gulf region of the Middle East for twelve years where she worked for children’s newspaper Young Times writing feature articles, short stories and a counselling column. As a CELTA trained teacher, Prue also taught English as a foreign language to Arabic speakers. Her award-winning book Camel Rider, as well as Destination Abudai and Zafir: Through My Eyes, were written based on her experiences of living and travelling in the Middle East. Prue returned to Australia in 2001. She and her husband own a vintage plane, and can often be seen at sunset over Cape Bridgewater in south-west Victoria near where they live.
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