Backlist Book Club #2: THE PATTERSON GIRLS

The Anniversary Edition & the epilogue you didn't know you needed!

Welcome to Backlist Book Club, where once a month I’m going to feature a book from my own back list—telling you a little bit about the inspiration, sharing any fun tidbits about it—or a book that I loved a while ago and think deserves some more hype.

This month I’m showcasing THE PATTERSON GIRLS, which just so happens to be rereleasing this WEEK with a fabulous new cover. If that’s not all, this new edition also has a new Dear Reader note from me AND a bonus epilogue showing you all what the sisters are up to ten years after the end of the novel!

Watch me unbox this new version.

This book was a very special one for me. It’s the first I wrote in the feel-good women’s fiction genre, and not only did it launch me in a new additional direction, but it also won me my first MAJOR literary prize. X2 actually. The Australian Book Industry Awards for General Fiction AND the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY Award.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

The Patterson Girls follows the lives of four VERY different sisters as they return home six months after their mother’s death to help their father sort through her things.

There’s Madeleine - the oldest, who is has a very rewarding career as an obstetrician in Baltimore. She’s single and loving life (although she’s slightly in love with her best friend. Problematic cos he’s in a relationship).

Next oldest is Lucinda - she’s a school teacher in Perth, happily married but desperate to have a baby.

Charlie - has always been the odd one out in the family. She’s a happy-go-lucky drifter, currently living in Melbourne and paying the bills as a barista and hoola hoop teacher.

Then there’s the baby - Abigail, who is a super talented violinist. She’s living in London where her family THINKS she’s playing with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The sisters grew up in a small town in rural South Australia where their parents ran the local motel and everyone knew everyone else. While going through their mother’s possessions, they find reference to a family curse that she kept from them all these years. Stunned to learn what the curse is (you’ll have to read the book to find out), almost all the women decide (without telling each other) that they’re going to try and disprove it.

WHY I LOVED/WROTE IT?

Because I had an idea that wasn’t a rural romance (which had been the only genre I’d been publishing thus far). People used to ask if I tried my hand at general women’s fiction (or what I like to call Feel-Good Fiction) because I thought I’d make more money! HAH - if only I was ever that strategic.

The title came first for this book (well, my working title - Patterson’s Curse) ), and I thought it would be about a love curse but then the idea for this story about four sisters and a family curse landed in my head and I knew I had to write it.

It’s not surprising that I eventually wrote in this genre (and still do) because it was actually my first love. I came to romance later, but my favourite type of story is still those that revolve around family dramas and women’s lives.

FUN FACTS:

• This novel was inspired by a weed! That’s right. I was driving through the wheatbelt in WA with a farming friend of mine when I saw a paddock of beautiful, purple flowers (or what I thought were flowers). I asked her what it was and she FREAKED OUT and started ranting about how it was a noxious weed, yadda, yadda, yadda. Once she’d calmed down she told me she thought it would be a good title for a book.

• THE PATTERSON GIRLS have now had THREE different covers over the years.

  

• While my working title was PATTERSON’S CURSE, my publisher thought CURSE might put people off, so we changed it to focus on the sisters instead.

• Nigel is one of the five love interests in the book (you got that right, five love interests, four sisters) but he was never supposed to be. Initially I wanted Abigail to go through a whole load of men in her mission to disprove the curse, so I gave him a name I didn’t think was sexy-hero material. Whoops, Abigail and him had other ideas. If I’d thought he was a keeper, I’d have probably called him Jack or something!

• This was the first book I “plotted” (and I use this term loosely) using post-it notes - I did this to keep track of the different sisters and make sure they all got similar air page time. (insert pic of wall post it notes chart)

GIVEAWAY: Now closed. Congrats to Tania who has won a signed copy of the new edition of THE PATTERSON GIRLS.