Dear Goldsboro Crime Collective members,
I have published nineteen novels over the past twenty-two years, but none of them were actually my ‘first’ one and none have been set in Australia. Today that changes.
Tell Me Something True is a book I began writing when I was twenty-two-years-old, working as a journalist in Sydney and dreaming of one day being a novelist. It is a story of love, loss, heartbreak and murder, set in a small Australian country town that is based upon the one I grew up in.
For more than forty years this book has been languishing in my bottom drawer where I mockingly referred to it as ‘the greatest ever unpublished novel.’ Periodically, I would read it again and fall in love with the characters, but I couldn’t bring myself to show it to anyone. Instead, I leaned into the idea of having a secret ‘masterpiece’ (please note the inverted commas) waiting to be discovered.
Now all bets are off. Tell Me Something True has been rewritten and reimagined because I am older and more experienced, with a lifetime of writing behind me. I have never been more excited and nervous about releasing a book, because I have never put more of myself onto the page.
I love this book. I love the characters. I love the setting. I love the heartache it brings me. I hope you feel the same way.
Best wishes,
Michael Robotham
1. Why did you choose to centre the story on someone returning to a community that has already judged him?
I grew up in small country towns in Australia, and I know how quick they are to judge and slow to forgive. Arlo Hackett is returning to the scene of a terrible crime after twelve years in prison and he knows that Yulara doesn’t want him back, but he doesn’t have a choice. His elderly mother has suffered a stroke and needs looking after. The more they try to force Arlo out – the more he begins to question the crimes he was accused of.
2. Were there any scenes that were particularly difficult or emotionally demanding to write?
The whole book was demanding for many reasons. The first is the setting – I based it on the town where I grew up. Secondly, it is more autobiographical than anything I’ve ever written, with scenes plucked directly from my childhood. And finally, because this book has been with me for more than forty years. I began writing it when I was 22 years old, which technically, makes it my first novel not my twentieth.
3. Were there any supporting characters who surprised you or took the story in unexpected directions as you wrote?
Saxon Winacott is a young, feisty teenage girl, who explodes into the story like a rock dropped into a perfectly still pond. The ripples transform the lives of Arlo and his brother Luke and their mother Mary, but almost from the outset the reader senses that some stars are destined to burn twice as brightly but only half as long.
4. The small-town setting feels almost like a character in its own right. What inspired Yulara, and why was this the perfect backdrop for the story?
As I mentioned earlier, Yulara is based on the small town where I spent my primary school years. I have changed the name because I’m hoping to visit there again one day. The townsfolk don’t emerge well from the story, because of their intolerance and refusal to give Arlo an even break, let alone a second chance. Early in the book, Arlo says to a neighbour:
‘Do you think this town will ever forgive me?’
‘Not in a million years.’
5. What do you hope readers are thinking or feeling when they finish the final page?
I have never been more excited and nervous about releasing a book, because I have never put more of myself onto the page. I love the characters. I love the setting. I love the heartache it brings me. I hope readers feel the same way and are reaching for the tissues.
