Belinda Castles (born 1971) is an English-born Australian novelist. Her second novel, '' The River Baptists'', won the 2006 Australian/Vogel Award.

Life

Castles moved to Australia in 1996. She works as an editor when not writing. With her husband and two daughters she lives near Sydney.

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 Island Dangar Island is a forested island, in area, in the Hawkesbury River, just north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dangar Island is a suburb of Hornsby Shire and as at the 2016 census had a population of 303, which swells dramatically duri ...

in the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

. 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The Australian/Vogel Literary Award ''The Australian''/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript i ...

for ''The River Baptists'' *2013 - winner of the

Asher Award The Asher Award was a biennial Australian literary award administered by the Australian Society of Authors between 2005 and 2017. It was established by the Australia Council after a bequest from the late author Helen Asher. It was disestablished ...

for ''Hannah and Emil'' *2019 - long listed in Stella Prize for ''Bluebottle''

Works

* ''Falling Woman'' (Sceptre, 2000) * '' The River Baptists'' (Allen & Unwin, 2007) * ''Hannah and Emil'' (2012) * ''Bluebottle'' (2018)

Notes

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castles, Belinda 1971 births Living people Australian women novelists English emigrants to Australia English women novelists 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century English women writers 20th-century Australian women