About the Novel
[Due out in Smashwords, and on Amazon as both an e and POD book, on 11 December 2013]
I first attempted to write about life on the poverty line in 1995, but I discovered, after writing around 50,000 words, that because there was so much hardship in the material I was covering, the work was looking very bleak and unattractive. So I put it aside.
Early in 2001, I conceived the idea of writing a novel using the same plot and characters as in the 1995 manuscript but making it palatable to the general reader by turning my main characters into cats, and by making a determined effort to keep the work as light as possible without compromising its integrity. All through my childhood, my Australian-born Irish mother had created dialogue for our pets. I think it came from her mother — all the siblings in that large family anthropomorphised their animals.
And so I constructed a community of rabbits, cats, dogs, koalas, porcupines, birds, etc. all of whom talk and struggle and experience life as people in these small communities do. I intended the work to be a fairy tale about poverty, with the happy ending so often lacking in life, so I deliberately used an old fashioned style, very different from my usual streetwise one – hence the plethora of semi colons, the profligate use of the passive voice and enough “which”s to fill a Harry Potter novel.
In deciding to take on indie publishing, I was inspired by Guy Kawasaki’s and Shawn Welch’s statement in APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur that the best reason for writing a book is the desire to add value to people’s lives in the areas of knowledge, understanding, entertainment or laughter. If I’ve succeeded in giving something to someone in even one of these areas, I’ll be happy.
D de V
Acknowledgments
Everyone has been so kind to me through the years I worked on this novel. If I’ve forgotten anyone, I hope they’ll forgive me.
ON THE RESEARCH FRONT, I am grateful to:
George Ryan and Lance Ryan (no relation) for their information on State Rail
The late Ned Cook and his wife Cora for their first-hand account of the burning down of the Railway Hotel
The Brunswick Valley Historical Society for access to newspapers and photographs held in their museum
Steven Snow, chef extraordinaire of Fins, for his advice on menus
Matthew Lambourne, for his information on the Brunswick River and all things tidal.
ON THE TECHNICAL FRONT, I am indebted to:
Dale Rachow, who kept my old computers going for free ‘til he left the area.
Rob Walker, Tony Moore, Carolyn Jones, Paul Smith and Steven Vella, each of whom gave me equipment. Steven also spent innumerable hours breaking in second-hand computers for me.
ON THE DESIGN FRONT, the work owes its beauty to:
Jayne Smith, for her cover and interior design
Tara Sariban for the cat icon that heads each chapter.
Marty Norman and Workman Publishing, NY, who allowed me to use his drawing from the Cat Catalogue for the cover design.
ON THE CREATIVE FRONT, I was greatly helped by:
C S Mc Clellan, internet friend and fellow writer
Tony Moore, who made helpful suggestions for the fifth draft
Allan Staines of Pinedale Press, who solved my longstanding Chapter I problem
Paul Smith, who helped greatly with graphics.
ON THE SUPPORT FRONT, where would I have been without:
My first agent, Rosemary Creswell, whose reaction to the third draft gave me the courage to go the indie route when all attempts to place the book with traditional publishers had failed
Carolyn David and Sue Roberts, who bought me innumerable cups of coffee—and cake, and lunch, etc.
Dianne Tester and Peter Arnott, who graciously helped me with money
My children, Sasha Sariban and Tara Sariban, and Sasha’s wife Babs Wheeler for their unfailing support and inspiration
And cats too numerous to mention.
My thanks to you all.
Recipes
Mrs Franchetti’s Puttanesca Sauce (for the pasta)
Ingredients:
2-3 cloves minced garlic 750g canned puréed tomatoes
3 or more pawfuls black olives 2 Tsps tomato paste
4 Tsps capers 3 anchovies (or anchovy paste)
2 Tsps olive oil 1 level tsp capsicum flakes
Salt and black pepper 500g good spaghetti/fettucine.
Method:
Heat oil in frying pan, and add garlic. Cook gently—not too long! Pit olives, cut into quarters. Debone anchovies and cut into small pieces (use a little anchovy paste if you no like anchovies). Add tomatoes to the oil and garlic, then olives, anchovies (or paste), capers and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper and capsicum flakes. Simmer for maybe 30 minutes over a low heat.
Fill very large boiler with water. When water boiling, add packet of best quality pasta (home-made is best), and 3 good pinches salt. When pasta is right, tip into large colander in sink and drain well. Mix with sauce, top with chopped parsley if you have it, and serve. Is important you mix the pasta with the sauce. Is authentic, this way.
This is good thing to make when you have run out of fresh things in the house. It comes from my home town of Napoli—but I no like to tell you what the title means!
Pussywillow’s Hot Gingerbread
Ingredients:
1 x 160 ml teacup golden syrup/treacle
1 level teacup white sugar
2 ozs butter (1/4 of a 250g block)
1 egg
1 teacup full cream milk
1 very heaped tsp ground ginger
1 level tsp cinnamon
8 (approximately) heaped dessertsps SR flour.
Method:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Place butter in small saucepan and melt over gentle heat. Cool. Beat egg in a mixing bowl. Add milk, sugar, cooled melted butter, golden syrup/treacle and spices. Mix well.
Add sifted flour, no more than 2 dessertspoons at a time. Beat mixture well. It should be hard to beat at the end.
Pour mixture into a buttered cake tin—better still, line the cake tin with greaseproof paper to avoid disasters. Bake at 190 degrees for about 40 minutes. (Do not open oven to check on cake until at least 25 minutes have passed.)
Serve cake hot, with coffee and plenty of butter. This is a yummy cake to have hot before the fire or the TV on a winter’s night.
Franchetti’s Choc, Fruit ‘n Nut Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 tsps instant coffee (optional)
3 tsps hot water (if you’re using coffee)
300 mls thickened cream
1 teacup dark chocolate chips
2L vanilla ice cream
1 teacup hazel nuts/macadamias/walnuts—whatever takes your fancy)
2 teacups sun dried mixed fruit
30-40 mls rum/Tia Maria/Kahlua, etc. (optional).
Method:
Take ice cream out of freezer for about half an hour, depending on the season, but don’t melt it. In a large (at least 3L) mixing bowl, dissolve coffee powder in hot water, if you’re using coffee. Add rum or liqueur, if you like. Whip cream until it goes into peaks, then fold into the cooled coffee mixture. Add the choc bits, nuts and mixed fruit/sultanas/raisins. Stir well.
Dump the ice cream into the bowl and dice it with a knife. Mix the coffee, dried fruit, choc bits and nut mixture through the ice cream. Pack it down well and freeze.
Once you’ve got the idea, you can make your own special mix—add glacé cherries, for example, or chopped marshmallows. Hey, you can do anything with this recipe!
Olwyn’s Dandelion Wine
Ingredients:
3-4L dandelion flowers, picked dry
750g sugar
5L boiling water
15g yeast
2 lemons/oranges
1 slice bread.
Method:
Place dry dandelion flowers in a large container. Pour boiling water over them. Cover with cloth and allow to stand for 24 hours, stirring night and morning.
Strain into a large container that can be heated. For every 5L liquid, add 750g (1½ lbs) sugar and the juice and the rind of 2 lemons/oranges, avoiding the white. Boil mixture for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then add 15g yeast on a piece of toasted bread. Let it float to the surface. Allow to ferment for 3-4 days. Strain liquid into a clean glass or earthenware jar until jar is filled to the top. Keep any surplus in a bottle for topping up later.
Stand jar on a tray in a warm room. As fermentation begins, froth will pour over the side of the jar. Fill up again from the surplus bottle until froth no longer forms. Insert cork into the container, loosely at first. When fermentation is over and no more bubbles of gas are seen, cork tightly. For a really clear wine, strain liquid. Cork bottles and keep—preferably for 6 months. Do not use before 6 weeks. This wine produces an amazing high, with little or no hangover.
The Great Rupert’s Speedy Tuna Curry
Ingredients:
2 lge onions 625g tinned chunk tuna
I head broccoli 1 Tsp olive oil
1-2 x 250 ml mugs white rice 270 ml tin coconut créme
410g tin sweet curry sauce 100g sweet chutney.
Method:
If they’re so desperate they’re letting you cook, you’ll get away with white rice, provided you cook it properly and drain it well. So, put water on for rice, following the back of the packet for the amount of water to use. When water is boiling, toss in the rice and cook as per instructions.
While rice is cooking, heat oil in a large frying pan, slice onions into rings and throw into pan with the oil. While onion rings are frying gently, open tins of tuna. When onions are golden, empty tuna and juice into frying pan, add curry paste, stir well with a wooden spoon, turn heat right down and cover. If they’re keen on greens, drop a head of broccoli into rice saucepan for five minutes while rice is cooking; fish out, chop coarsely and throw into tuna curry mixture just before serving, along with the coconut créme.
When rice is cooked, drain well, and place in a lidded vegetable dish. Set table. Put chutney in small dish with spoon. Make sure all china is matching — it’s the little things that let you get away with murder. Serves 6.
Sylvia’s Summer Salad
Ingredients:
1-2 x 250 ml mugs green grapes
1 mug chopped celery
2 Tsps vinaigrette OR 1-2 x 200g tub/s plain yogurt
2-3 avocadoes OR if using vinaigrette, 3 med. green apples
2 lge mangoes (use tinned when mangoes are out of season)
3 medium leaves of Italian parsley, finely chopped
I purple onion, finely sliced
100g walnut halves or pieces (halves look better, but they cost more).
Method:
Wash all fruit and vegetables well. Separate the grapes from their stalks and place in a salad bowl. Peel the mangoes. Chop celery and mangoes, and add to bowl. Add walnuts, grapes, chopped parsley and purple onion.
Peel and quarter the apples/avocados and cut each quarter into six. Then add the yogurt/vinaigrette and apples/avocados to the salad bowl and stir the mixture gently but well. Can be refrigerated for a few hours before use.
If 3 or 4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped into chunks, are added to this while still warm—not hot—it will make a good main meal for 6.
NB To make vinaigrette, mix well: 1 Tsp cold pressed olive oil with 1 Tsp sweet chutney and the juice of 1-2 lemons.
Mr Franchetti’s Solution
(for restoring old furniture found in sheds)
Ingredients:
Mix well in a glass or plastic container equal parts of:
Turpentine
Vinegar (brown or white)
Raw linseed oil
Method of use:
Pick a sunny day. Wash piece of furniture with soft rag and warm water. Do not use any kind of soap or detergent in the water. Allow to dry. When dry, apply well-stirred oil mixture with soft steel wool and wipe off with a soft, clean cloth.
Leave 48 hours (or longer, if you like) and do again.
This mixture was given to me by the late Harcourt Howard. It will restore old furniture out of sheds very wonderfully, BUT do not use on French polished furniture or on furniture that has been made with veneer. That would not be a good thing.
Claude’s Long Curry
Ingredients:
1 kg round steak (or 2 x 250 ml mug cooked chick peas or lentils)
4 lge carrots 3 lge onions
3 lge knobs garlic 3 lge potatoes
1 dessertspoon soy sauce I dessertspoon raw honey
1½L rain/spring water 2 cobs fresh corn
300 ml sour cream 3-4 lge silverbeet leaves
2 (or more) heaped dessertspoons of good quality curry powder
4-6 Italian parsley leaves, washed and chopped.
Method:
Trim all fat from meat. Place cubed meat in large saucepan with water and soy sauce. Allow meat to heat up very slowly, and simmer gently for 1-2 hours.
Add curry powder and all root vegetables, chopped into chunks. Allow to cook slowly for 1 hour or more. Keep lid on pot. Ten minutes from serving time, add cooked chick peas if not using meat, corn from cob, and the honey. Just before serving, stir in washed and chopped greens and serve in a large casserole dish topped with finely chopped parsley, with sour cream in a separate dish on the side. Serve with a large dish of boiled brown rice, cooked with 3 inch slice of fresh lemon peel added to cooking water. Serves 6.
This dish tastes even better next day. If there’s any left over next day.
Mao’s Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
1 x 250 ml mug raw brown (sometimes called green) lentils
2 lge cobs of corn 1 dessertspoon soy sauce
3 lge carrots 3-4 lge mushrooms
3 lge onions Sm bunch leafy greens
3 lge knobs garlic 1 dessertspoon honey
1 med sweet potato 4 lge Italian parsley leaves
3 lge stalks celery 150g tasty cheese, grated.
Method:
Soak lentils overnight. Place in large stainless steel saucepan with 2 litres rain/bottled water and 1 dessertspoon soy sauce and simmer for 1 hour or more. Add peeled and chopped onions, garlic, carrots and sweet potatoes. Simmer another hour. Ten minutes before serving, add mushrooms, celery, corn and honey, wash greens and parsley. Two minutes from serving, add chopped greens. Grate the cheese.
Serve soup at the table in a large tureen, topped with chopped parsley, with grated cheese in a separate bowl for topping, and a loaf of Turkish or home-made bread, and butter. This is a very economical main meal, and you will not feel hungry afterwards. Serves 6.
D de V
Danielle de Valera 
Leave a Reply