Scatterheart

Scatterheart

Hanna Cheshire is rich and spoilt. She has servants to wait on her hand and foot - and Thomas, a passionate young tutor who fills her head with stories. Then one day her father disappears, and she is left to fend for herself. Alone and penniless, she is sentenced to transportation for a crime she didn't commit. Once Hannah considered Thomas beneath her: a servant, a commoner. Now she thinks of him more and more. But will she ever see him again? One girl's adventure to find happiness becomes a fairytale within a fairytale. A romantic story of power and love.

Lili Wilkinson remembers the day in Beijing when she learnt to read 'in her head'. She was six and has been immersed in the world of books since. It's an obsession she shares with her mother, Carole Wilkinson (the China trip was the germ that sprouted the award-winning Dragonkeeper). Lili was first published when she was only eleven, in Voiceworks, a creative writing magazine for young people. Following an honours degree in Creative Arts and six months of teaching English in Japan, Lili began working at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Lili lives in inner Melbourne, and loves reading, quality TV, the work of Jim Henson and Japanese food.

Scatterheart
Walkerbooks Australia
Author: Lili Wilkinson
ISBN: 9781742031293
Price: $18.99

Interview with Lili Wilkinson

Question: What do you enjoy most about writing for young adults?

Lili Wilkinson: You're never as passionate about life as you are when you're a teenager. It's such an intense time of life - it's great to write about. Also teenagers write the best fanmail!


Question: Can you relate to the character of Hanna Cheshire, in anyway?

Lili Wilkinson: I think in some ways I'm a bit annoying like Hannah - although hopefully not QUITE as annoying! We're both very stubborn, which can sometimes be a good thing, and sometimes not.


Question: Are the characters of Scatterheart based on anyone you know?

Lili Wilkinson: No, although Hannah's tutor, Thomas Behr was inspired by a real fictional character - Thomas Lynn in Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock. He was such a fabulous character that I kind of wanted to pay homage to him.

Question: How does it feel to have your romantic, history novel compared to Titanic and Pride and Prejudice?

Lili Wilkinson: It feels great! They are two much-loved stories, and I'm delighted to be mentioned in the same sentence as them. Also, if anyone feels like making a massive blockbuster movie version of Scatterheart, I'd be pretty delighted about that too.


Question: There are several issues raised in this book. Was this deliberate or did the story evolve this way?

Lili Wilkinson: A bit of both, probably. I certainly wanted to talk about the experiences of women in the convict era, and some of the awful stuff that they went through. I think young adult fiction is always quite political, and I'm really interested in the politics of YA (I'm doing a PhD on it at the moment).


Question: What advice do you have for aspiring writers or artists?

Lili Wilkinson: Read. A lot. Write, and show people your writing and really listen to their feedback. Also Voiceworks magazine and insideadog.com.au both have some great writing opportunities for young people.


Interview by Brooke Hunter