There's no place like home: Five Illawarra-inspired stories to read this summer

Books can be a great way to escape and explore imaginary worlds, but some Illawarra authors have found the magic in their own areas, which they’ve incorporated into beautiful stories that make readers feel at home.

The Illawarra region boasts both coastal and country living, which opens up opportunities for writers to find the perfect setting for their stories without having to look further than their doorstep, regardless of the genre, age or characters.

For Wollongong author Helena Fox, setting the story in the region was a clear choice when writing her award-winning young-adult novel How It Feels To Float.

The book about love, connection, loss, hope and living with mental illness was created by responses Helena wrote to photographs she had taken in her local area.

“Once I realised that the voice was the same, I was intrigued and thought, ‘Who is this person?’ and then I realised that it was this young girl, Biz,” Helena said.

And for Helena, it just made sense for Biz’s journey to be based in the Illawarra.

“It just seemed to be an obvious answer that the photographs are from here. I feel very grounded here and part of the community here and I have just a lovely connection to the physical space and beautiful Dharawal country,” Helena said.

“It was a genuine delight to place Biz essentially in my suburb – I created a house that’s on my street, so when she walks to school, she walks a path I walked all the time.”

Scenes at the Sea Cliff Bridge, Eat Street Markets and Bulli Beach Cafe connected with readers, who got in touch with Helena to share their nostalgia, even if they had moved away from the area.

“It’s not quite as common as a New York story or a London story, so I think for local readers it’s been such a joy to go ‘Hey, there’s my town’.

“It’s a bit of a love letter to my community and to the beautiful environment here.”

But most important to her was that the setting and perspectives were authentic to the character and the story being told.

“It all had to fit her voice and if it didn’t seem authentic in that, I would have to take it out.”

That authenticity in the character’s experience was also vital for fellow author Allison Tait, who writes as A.L. Tait, when she penned The First Summer of Callie McGee.

“With any story, it’s about the characters that you put within that place so the sense of place comes through the eyes of the character that you put in there,” Allison said.

The middle-grade mystery about growing up and finding yourself was set in the fictional town based on Gerroa.

“When I started writing the story, it was set definitely in Gerroa but I realised that I wanted to move things around a bit,” Allison said.

”I needed a surf club there and things like that, so I used it as a jumping-off point to create a fictional village. You take what you know and you make it new.

“You can write a story that is based in your backyard but you can make it completely different.”

It was certainly a place that Allison knew well and was passionate towards.

“I absolutely love Gerroa. I went to high school down here on the South Coast in the Shoalhaven, then I moved away and went to Sydney and overseas,” she said.

“I lived overseas for a couple of years and I remember one of the first things I did when I came back was come and visit my parents, who still live here.

“I got off the plane from London the day before and I’m driving that road and you turn that corner and the Seven Mile Beach just stretched out in front of you and it was like, ‘Now I’m home’.”

The journey of the character Callie McGee is universal for teenagers as they head to high school and try to find themselves, and familiarity in the experience of being in a holiday house with family friends you’ve known your whole life extends beyond the town in which it was set.

And even though the town’s name is Sawyers Point, readers have told Allison that they knew exactly where they were.

“I think creating a sense of place in a story is about a few telling details,” Allison said.

“I always say big pictures are built on small details, so it’s about, ‘What is it about this place which resonates the most with me’ because that’s probably the kind of thing that is going to resonate most with readers.”

Five stories inspired by the Illawarra

How It Feels To Float – Helena Fox

This young-adult fiction is based in and around Wollongong and follows the character of 16-year-old Biz as she finds some kind of hope after the loss of her father and beginning her mental health journey.

The First Summer of Callie McGee – A.L. Tait

This teen mystery is set in Sawyers Point (which is based on the town of Gerroa) during Callie’s last summer before she starts high school and is about growing up, working things out and solving the puzzle of who you are.

Our Shellharbour – Karen Hendriks

This is a children’s picture book that explores the natural wonders around Shellharbour and all the magical places from the mountains to the sea.

Catch Us the Foxes – Nicola West

This is a mystery and thriller based in Kiama, where journalist Marlowe ‘’Lo’’ Robertson uncovers a deadly secret within her small town while investigating the murder of her best friend.

Storyland – Catherine McKinnon

This historical fiction is based on the banks of Lake Illawarra, with the unique novel spanning four centuries and in essence telling the story of Australia.