The Senior newspaper - Win a copy of The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir by Sandie Docker |
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posted 18-6-2024 @ 07:24 AM
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The Senior newspaper - Win a copy of The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir by Sandie Docker
Entry methods: Online, Freq: Once Only, Closes 31/07/2024
Enter: https://www.thesenior.com.au/story/8652607/rising-homelessne...
The spate of older women ending up homeless due to a marriage breakdown or being widowed was the spark for a new novel highlighting the issue.
Author Sandie Docker felt "alarmed" to learn three out of four people utilising homelessness services in Australia were women and children.
In 2023, older women were becoming the fastest-growing demographic succumbing to homelessness in the country, increasing by 40 percent between 2011
and 2021, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
"On the surface, it would be women you would never think it'd happen to - women who had been in relationships who had been financially secure, then
something changes in their life and it all goes pearshaped," Docker said.
The more she researched the more she felt compelled to weave this into The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir, to use art as a way of highlighting a prevalent
women's issue.
"What I love about raising these big issues in fiction is it makes it accessible. Not everybody's going to read reports or watch hard-hitting
documentaries on TV ... But a lot of people read fiction and they can talk about it with their friends in their book club at work," Ms Docker said.
As part of her research, she met with charity Mission Australia to get a further understanding of what happens to women who become homeless, and was
shocked to find a dire need for funding more services nationwide.
"Some accommodation is adults only (not suitable for children), there are places that are just for domestic violence victims only so some can't go in
there. There are so many obstacles," Ms Docker said.
The book follows characters Eleanor, Maggie and Hannah, who find themselves lost and lonely and involved in the Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir.
Docker said there are as many heart-warming moments as there are heart-wrenching, though her novel also delves into the emotional repercussions of
forced adoptions from the 1970s and 1980s as well as dealing with trauma.
We have one copy of The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir by Sandie Docker to give away, valued at $34.99.
Entries close Wednesday, July 31, 2024 at 11.59pm AEST.
Not available for exchange for another title or money. |
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posted 1-8-2024 @ 11:07 PM
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Congratulations to our winner S Wynn Thirlstane TAS |
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