Family Skeleton and The Science of Appearances - two novels about families and their secrets! Join Inkerman & Blunt publisher Donna Ward in conversation with authors Jacinta Halloran and Carmel Bird, as they talk about writing fiction, their inspiration, and how characters and plot work to shape narratives.

Carmel Bird won the Patrick White Literary Award in 2016, and has had many works shortlisted for major awards. Jacinta Halloran is a Melbourne-based writer and GP whose work has been shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.

Praise for Family Skeleton by Carmel Bird

“The mordantly witty novel ‘Family Skeleton’, related from a wardrobe by a skeleton, is Carmel Bird's ninth novel, and is as vibrant and off-beat as those that have happily gone before. The O'Day family, its fortune made as funeral directors, especially to Melbourne's rich, and latterly from the death-driven theme park Heavenly Days, lives in the mansion Bellevue, built for them in Toorak in 1933.” - Peter Pierce

Praise for The Science of Appearances by Jacinta Halloran

‘Halloran’s writing is skilled and intelligent, her characters compelling, and her settings rich … The journey is recognisable but utterly surprising. Insightful and completely absorbing, its resonance lingers.’ - Rosalie Ham, author of the bestseller The Dressmaker