Belinda Castles
Encyclopedia
Belinda Castles is an English-born Australian novelist. The River Baptists, for which she won the 2006 Australian/Vogel Award, is her second novel; her first was Falling Woman.
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in the Hawkesbury River
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Castles incorporates the physical location not only as descriptive content in her novels, but to set the emotional tone of scenes, create tension and move the plot along. The river separates the characters in the River Baptists by flowing between them, and it forces them to meet when they use the ferry or need to travel across the river to the township. It gives the illusion of independence to the characters by separating them the community, but it also isolates when there are threats or danger.
The story is set in a small town and it is clear that there are few secrets kept from the locals: the interest of the locals is not only curiosity, but because they are looking out for each other. For the newcomers to the town this help is often unexpected. While the river is a strong and constant force that moves purposefully though the novel, in contract the main characters seem to be aimlessly drifting through life or escaping from their pasts and surviving day to day. It is only when they are forced to act, or when in a crisis they need make a decision, that they seem to wake up and take charge of their lives.
Life
Castles moved to Australia in 1996. She works as an editor when not writing. With her husband and daughter she lives near SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
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Writing
In describing her novel River Baptists, Castles said: "It's quite a soapie. My favourite writing is literary soap, with lots of dramas and interlocking lives." Her idea for the novel came from the time she spent living on Dangar IslandDangar Island
Dangar Island is a small forested island in the Hawkesbury River, just north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It has a permanent population of about 250, which swells dramatically during holiday seasons. The island is serviced regularly by the Dangar Island Ferry service that departs from...
in the Hawkesbury River
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
.
Castles incorporates the physical location not only as descriptive content in her novels, but to set the emotional tone of scenes, create tension and move the plot along. The river separates the characters in the River Baptists by flowing between them, and it forces them to meet when they use the ferry or need to travel across the river to the township. It gives the illusion of independence to the characters by separating them the community, but it also isolates when there are threats or danger.
The story is set in a small town and it is clear that there are few secrets kept from the locals: the interest of the locals is not only curiosity, but because they are looking out for each other. For the newcomers to the town this help is often unexpected. While the river is a strong and constant force that moves purposefully though the novel, in contract the main characters seem to be aimlessly drifting through life or escaping from their pasts and surviving day to day. It is only when they are forced to act, or when in a crisis they need make a decision, that they seem to wake up and take charge of their lives.
Awards
- 2006 - winner of the Australian The Australian/Vogel Literary AwardThe Australian/Vogel Literary AwardThe Australian/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in Australia...
for River Baptist
Works
- Falling Woman (Sceptre, 2000)
- River Baptists (Allen & Unwin, 2007) ISBN 9781741751932