Perth author Rachael Johns’ initial inspiration for her new book, The Lucky Sisters, began when she and fellow WA author Anthea Hodgson were at a writers’ festival and the subject came up about Elvis Presley and the passing of his daughter Lisa Marie.
“A lot of Elvis’ family died young and his early death was written off as him being on drugs and different stuff. But then they found out there was a faulty gene in Elvis’ family, possibly linked to the fact his maternal grandparents were cousins,” Rachael tells Have a Go News.
“So, the thought developed… how would you feel if you knew that you had inherited something that meant you might not live as long as most people hope to live?
“And then, as writers do, you always like asking yourself: what if? Imagine if you didn’t know you were going to die in your early 50s but then you found out that you would. How would that affect you? How do you live your life from that point on?”
The groundwork was laid for Rachael Johns’ most ambitious novel yet, The Lucky Sisters, which delves into the complexities of mortality, identity, motherhood and the ties that bind us.
Twins Nora and Stevie Lucky, adopted at birth and raised in a loving home in Perth, have always been close despite their very different personalities. When their mother dies, Nora convinces Stevie to search for their biological parents, only to be confronted with the life-changing revelation that they both may not have long to live.
It sends the sisters spiralling in different directions and much happens as they confront their own mortality and the effect it will have on their families. The book is a wonderful read, filled with warmth and good humour, even in the face of adversity.
“The initial inspiration was reading about the gene from Elvis Presley’s family and thinking about how you would react if you found out you had a similar gene,” Rachael says. The twins came on board and I actually read a quote about sisters, one is always the dancer and the other is always the watcher.
“I thought that was really beautiful and, from the people I know, this is very true, one sibling is a little bit more out there daring and sociable and the other takes a backseat and is sometimes quieter.
“Then you have two people having to deal with the same news and the emotions they might feel differently, But I thought it would be kind of fun to swap personalities when they found out, so it’s about thinking and asking yourself questions.
“I often start with the character when I write books and, in this case, I started more with the premise. I had two very different sisters who were very close and really it helped make the families and the people they had in their lives come alive.”
Rachael says she researched adoption laws for her book. Different laws apply in each state.
“But I think for me what’s so much more fascinating is the emotional side.
“While I wasn’t adopted myself, I didn’t know my father, I knew of him, but I didn’t meet him until I was 18 and I found had four half-sisters and a half brother who I didn’t know existed until then.
“So, I kind of know what it’s like not to know about your family. While I knew about my mother, I didn’t know about my father’s side and there is still a lot I don’t know. My husband still doesn’t know his dad and whereas I desperately wanted to know, my husband has no desire at all.
“There’s different feelings about these things and so I gave one to Stevie and another to Nora. A good writing friend of mine, Sophie Green, was also adopted and she generously did an online podcast about adoption and the different aspects involved.”
Rachael says she did extensive research into genetics and the various aspects of the disease the twins may have inherited.
“When I realised there was something I had to explain or I had to ensure would work, I would stop writing.”
Born in London, Rachael moved to Sydney with her mother as a baby and then to WA aged seven; her father remaining in the UK. She was once, briefly, an English teacher before turning her attention to writing and never looked back.
Her novel, The Patterson Girls, won the 2016 Australian Book Industry Award for General Fiction and she’s a two-time winner of the Romance Writers of Australia Ruby award.
“I like setting my books in WA but sometimes the plots call for somewhere else,” Rachael says. She writes from her home office in the Swan Valley, basically during school hours with one son still at school (two other sons are grownup).
“It probably took me longer than usual to write The Lucky Sisters because I also released two other books Outback Reunion last November and The Bad Bridesmaid in February.”
“Apart from that, I’m currently in the throes of writing a new book, Someone Else’s Fortune, which has a bit of a sliding doors element which I’m really excited about. I’m also co-writing a cosy crime series with another author.”
Rachael Johns will launch The Lucky Sisters at Chapel Farm Estate in the Swan Valley at 6.30pm on Tuesday, October 21. She then heads to the eastern states for a series of book launches.
The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns (rrp $34.99, Penguin) is out this month.
