Angela Savage departs crime in new book Mother of Pearl

Thailand and an inner northern park helped unlock a story about the pregnancies and motherhood for a Brunswick author who in her day job helps writers find a home for their ideas.

Author Angela Savage balances writing and helping writers. Picture: Andy Brownbill

A physical trip to key locations helped Angela Savage shape her new novel.

The Brunswick author stepped away from crime in Mother of Pearl, a family drama about surrogacy.

While scenes set in Bangkok were drawn from Savage’s experience living in Thailand in the 1990s, it was a walk in All Nations Park in Northcote that helped her to a breakthrough.

“There’s a scene where I took the character for a walk in the park and so I went and walked it myself; it was a great way of unblocking the work and things just flowed,” she said.

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The book was written before Savage took up her post as director of Writers Victoria, an organisation that provides workshops and opportunities for scribes.

“In the build-up to finding a publisher for this novel I received a few rejections and it was hard to take but I thought, that is the experience I can bring to my job because writers have to develop resilience,” she said.

Mother of Pearl is available in bookshops from August 9.