Former Bathurst author Aofie Clifford releases third novel, 'When We Fall'

When We Fall follows lawyer Alex Tillerson who, after moving back to a small town to care for her ageing mother, gets caught up in a complex murder investigation full of sudden twists and turns.

Ms Clifford was motivated to write the novel based on an experience she had on the job as a part-time bookseller in an independent Melbourne bookshop.

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"A person came into the store one day and told me the story of a deep red dress she'd found in a Melbourne store 15 years before, and was obsessed with where the dress had ended up," she said.

"The dress turned out to be my wedding dress, which I still own, and after she returned a couple of years later to commission someone to paint a picture of the dress, it got me thinking about how 'words' based people go about solving cases using visual clues, which founded the direction for When We Fall."

Ms Clifford said the other core idea present in When We Fall is the notion of absent parents and their impact on "official" versions of events.

"I'm of Irish heritage, and was particularly interested in this mother and baby home in Galway, Ireland in the early-to-mid 1900s, which caused global controversy after a local historian later uncovered evidence that several infants had died and were buried in secret at the home, as well as being deported to the United States for illegal adoptions," she said.

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"This comes back to the idea of incomplete information as a result of the time period and societal perceptions, and how past events can have much larger ramifications in the future."

Ms Clifford hopes the novel will connect with not only die-hard crime fiction lovers, but those looking for a change in reading material.

"Being from Bathurst myself, I hope the town in When We Fall is a plausible country village where the people are believable and there's more to the area than simply a place to host a murder investigation," she said.

"My time in Bathurst certainly shaped my career as a writer, and I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for Greg Hodgman, who taught me English in Year 12 at the Diocesan Catholic Girls' High School, today MacKillop College."

"He introduced me to two books: Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep and John le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold: both of which continue to inspire me as a writer.

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"The surnames of many characters in my books are inspired by Bathurst streets."

Ms Clifford has written two books previously: All These Perfect Strangers, which was long-listed for both the ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and the Voss Literary Prize, and Second Sight, recognised at the Davitt Awards, a Publishers Weekly [starred review] and PW Pick for Book of the Week.

When We Fall is available for purchase from the Ultimo Press website.

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