AUTHOR Dell Brand drew on her own experiences for her latest book – and some readers may even recognise a little of themselves in certain characters.
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Former school teacher turned author Dr Brand will launch her new self-published book Winfale Park on Thursday, December 10 at Warilla Library at 11am.
This is the seventh book written by the long-time former Kiama resident, who now resides in Calderwood.
This follows four children’s books and two historical fiction tomes.
“This is my first contemporary drama book,” she said.
“I feel it will be of special interest to readers in Kiama and the Illawarra as the novel is set in Warilla and has plenty of local touches.”
Dr Brand said the story was set in a “make believe caravan park in Warilla”.
In the story, Penny Taylor, from London’s East End, finds herself part of the struggling Hapless family, living in a caravan park in the Illawarra.
She is kept busy with three young children, two of whom belong to Dudley Hapless, her present partner and a professional basketball player with the Hawks.
Dudley has four brothers, Dick, Rob, Bill and Bruce, and a younger sister named Rosie.
When Penny discovers that one of her children has an aggressive form of leukaemia, Rosie finds herself unmarried and pregnant and Bruce adds a further complication by choosing an unwise direction, the family teeters on the brink of disintegration.
“The family has a whole lot of hard luck and they have to somehow get through it,” Dr Brand said.
Although emphasising that each character was not representative of an actual person, she hoped her real-life experiences would lend greater realism to the story.
“I was a teacher at Lake Illawarra and Warilla High for 20 years, and that’s where I drew on for a lot of my characters in a loose sort of way.
“I’m on a journey as a writer, and I’m hopefully getting better with each book I write.
“This idea came to me one night and I just pursued it.”
Winfale Park is available in hard copy or as an e-book.
Books will be available for purchase and signing at the free launch.
Bookings are essential; phone 4297 2522.