I think drafting does give you that – the invisible work is there underneath. “It’s like an iceberg underneath, what’s on the page is a lot of work and feeling. “This the most: every scene had to be the essence of true emotion and rhythm, which is why it’s so short.” Parrett edits heavily each chapter was drafted 15 to 20 times. There was still love is her third novel and, she believes, her best. Records were kept in the little churches in every little village.” Lots of records were lost during the war. Tracing her family tree through genealogy revealed little. To this day, Parrett doesn’t know why her grandmother left Czechoslovakia, how she met her grandfather, what she was like as a child, what her parents were like. I would give anything to just have a few hours with them, to ask questions and listen.” “Dates and facts are just that: they’re not stories. But stuff kept coming, she says, and Favel realised this was going to be a much longer story.

Here, Mana and Bill have made alife for themselves and their granddaughter. There Was Still Love began as a short story about empty gherkin jars that transformed into plane tickets home.

And that’s what makes up a life really – what did you want to be when you were young, when did your heart first break, who was your first love.” Inside, the smell of warm pipetobacco and homemade cakes. “Because when they’re gone, those stories are just dust. ‘Through all this, the bonds of family remain.’ Susan Stevenson, Readings. Parrett encourages anyone with grandparents or older relatives to talk to them. ‘Favel Parrett’s tender new novel, There Was Still Love, explores what it means to make a home and how a person might be free in a world ruptured by political as well as personal upheavals.’ Anna MacDonald, Australian Book Review. There Was Still Love is the third novel by award-winning Australian author, Favel Parrett.

There was still love favel parrett