Shirley Marr is a first-generation Chinese-Australian living in Perth and an author of young adult and children’s fiction, including YA novels Fury and Preloved, and children’s novels Little Jiang and A Glasshouse of Stars. She describes herself as having a Western mind and an Eastern heart. She likes to write in the space in the middle where they both collide, basing her stories on her own personal experiences of migration and growing up in Australia, along with the folk and fairy tales from her mother. Arriving in mainland Australia from Christmas Island as a seven-year-old in the 1980s and experiencing the good, the bad and the wonder that comes with culture shock, Shirley has been in love with reading and writing from that early age. Shirley is a universe full of stars and stories and hopes to share the many other novels that she has inside her.
Today, Shirley Marr is on the blog to answer some of our questions about A Glasshouse of Stars. Read on …
Shirley Marr (Photo by Jessica Wyld).
Please tell us about your book, A Glasshouse of Stars!
SM: A Glasshouse of Stars is a contemporary middle grade story (with a touch of magic!) about a young girl’s experience immigrating to an unnamed new land. Everything is big and unknown to her and simple experiences like going to school, making friends and communicating is tough and challenging. She finds solace in a rundown glasshouse at the back of her house which represents all the dreams and imagination that she cannot speak of in the new language. This is a story about surviving, resilience and being brave in yourself.
Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind this book?
SM: This book is based on my own childhood experiences and is a heart story I have been wanting to tell for a long time! I remember my experiences of a 1980s Australia with clarity. A lot has changed in terms of how immigrants and in particular how the Asian Diaspora is now treated; but then again, a lot hasn’t changed either. Encouraged by the Own Voices movement and fuelled by the current climate of fear, injustice and hate, I really think that the time is right for a novel like this. More than anything I want to show the very human side of any immigration story, especially the rights of children that do not choose to be put in this situation.
Introduce us to your protagonist, Meixing Lim. Where did she come from and what’s your favourite thing about her?
SM: Meixing Lim is like the version of myself that is much stronger and braver than me! Although she may be walking my steps, I think she is a combination of all the wonderful qualities I see in all the strong Asian women I know in my life, amongst my family and friends and in the community. At the same time, she is also imperfect and human and allows herself to bend when her life becomes tough. She’s a survivor in the way that we all are; we’ve made our lives and our homes here. In a way I hope she’s like a beacon of light that represents the Asian Immigrant experience. I think that is my favourite thing about her.
Meixing struggles with making friends and fitting in, and finds a magical world in her glasshouse. What kinds of things can readers expect her to discover there and what do they teach her?
SM: At first, because everything in the new land is confusing anyway, Meixing believes that the glasshouse is some magical thing that belongs to her Uncle, as she finds his spirit living there, still tending to his orange orchard! But she comes to understand that much in the same way that the strange house that they live in, which randomly expands and shrinks, represents her changing emotions – the glasshouse is her unlimited imagination and mind. Huge, boundless and not only capable of understanding her own feelings, but capable of seeing the hearts and the true experiences of the school friends she makes, who have made difficult journeys to the new land too. She will learn that she is more special on the inside than she ever imagined, even when she thinks she looks disappointing from the outside.
How do you approach writing about big, scary things like grief for younger readers?
SM: I believe it is my duty to write about the big scary topics like grief because I honestly believe it is my duty to educate by sharing my own experiences. It is also my belief that you never know who might be seeking solace in a book and that it is important to provide representation, instruction and — most importantly — lots and lots of hope. So, it is what I build into from the very start as my foundations. It is about saying to readers that life can be horrible, but we will explore it in a very safe and secure way. I would feel very empty otherwise if I just had to shy away from big topics because it seems too hard.
‘Meixing Lim is like the version of myself that is much stronger and braver than me! Although she may be walking my steps, I think she is a combination of all the wonderful qualities I see in all the strong Asian women I know in my life.’
Who did you write this book for? Who do you wish would read it?
SM: I wrote this book for all the girls out there like me so they can see themselves in a book. But I also wrote this book for everyone, because I think that themes like feeling lost and misunderstood and needing compassion and understanding are universal.
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey towards becoming a writer?
SM: I have been a writer for about twenty years now, although please don’t try and calculate my age! I knew from an early age I wanted to become a writer, even though my English ability was poor, and I couldn’t read or write at all when I first came to Perth! I entered the publishing industry 12 years ago with a young adult book called Fury. Although I am still proud of that book, I regret I didn’t write it from the point of view of a Chinese protagonist. I did though with my follow-up book Preloved in 2012 (before the Own Voices movement emerged in 2015, I’m proud of that!) and I will always write proudly from the point of a Chinese protagonist from henceforth.
What is the last book you read and loved?
SM: I loved Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim! I know it’s very early to be calling it, but it’s my favourite book of the year! I’m so proud to see an Own Voices migration novel written for the young adult audience. It is confronting, brilliant, discussion-worthy! Please buy it from Booktopia!
What do you hope readers will discover in A Glasshouse of Stars?
SM: I hope that they will discover a voice in themselves that will question the media’s representation of migration and the way decision makers treat immigrants and see for themselves that we are actually talking about humans.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
SM: I’m writing another migration novel, but from a completely different angle and point of view! It’s what I call my “Asian Beezus and Romona” and I’m hoping it’s a more light-hearted, whimsical and funny story, about the entwined lives of two young sisters!
Thanks Shirley!
—A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.
A Glasshouse of Stars
Meixing Lim and her family have arrived at the New House in the New Land, inherited from First Uncle who died tragically and unexpectedly while picking oranges in the backyard.
Everything is vast and unknown to Meixing and not in a good way, including the house she has dubbed Big Scary. She is embarrassed by the second-hand shoes given to her by the kind neighbours, has trouble understanding the language at school, and with fitting in and making new friends. Her solace is a glasshouse in the garden that inexplicably holds the sun and the moon and all the secrets of her memory...
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