The balance between history and fiction with Alison Booth

Alison Booth was born in Melbourne, brought up in Sydney and has worked in the UK and in Australia as a professor as well as a novelist. She holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and has written five novels, including The Philosopher’s Daughters which was published in April 2020.

Interview starts at 20 minutes.

Mini book club: Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre

We enjoyed reading this funny book about Billie, a biochemist who has to go back to her home town to run her family dairy farm when her Dad falls ill. Battling misogyny, homophobia and the economic turmoil of a dairy crisis, can Billie find a way to save the farm, save the cows and save herself?

In this interview, we chat about:

• The inspiration for The Philosopher’s Daughters. 
• Why it’s so important to balance the present with the truth of history.
• Choosing how to accurately present history on the page. 
• How the research process differs for historical fiction depending on the time period.
• How do we define history and historical fiction?
• Why Alison had to retrain herself to include emotion in her writing after studying economics.

Books and other things mentioned:

• Up The Dusty Track by Norman Booth
• The Territory by Ernestine Hill
• Back In Time For Dinner AU on ABC TV

Follow Alison @alisonboothauthor9723 and get your copy of The Philosopher’s Daughters at all good bookshops.

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