Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The devastating effects of bushfires
Ash Mountain
What you need to know before your trail
Fran hates her hometown, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.
She returns home to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer. As past friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…
Travel Guide
Travel to AshMountain, Victoria, Australia, BookTrail style
Ash Mountain
Fictional but typical of so many inland towns across Australia. The location represents the area affected bu the bush fires in the country so Ash Mountain is in fact every town and every settlement across the affected areas.
‘Ash Mountain, the second oldest town in Victoria, reputedly. Population 867. It was 885 when Fran came last; there had been some lucky escapes.”
Changes to the place:
“Shitboxville, aka the new commuter estate had totally changed the view.”
Ash Mountain was written before the horrendous bush fires which have recently devastated in Australia. This makes the book and story seem even more poignant and chilling.
The cover of the novel was taken in the town of Port Macquarie which is explained in the author note. This too, adds to the poignancy of the story within.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Ash Mountain
Destination/location: ‘Ash Mountain’ Victoria, NSW, Australia Author/guide: Helen FitzGerald Departure Time: 2000s
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