BATHURST will be a "first date" for an author visiting the city next week, but the region holds plenty of memories.
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Gabbie Stroud - best known for her non-fiction books Teacher and Dear Parents, which looked at the state of the Australian education system - is on the road to promote her new novel, The Things That Matter Most.
"In 2021, when I started writing this book, I took myself on a road trip to central NSW," she said of the novel's genesis.
"I stayed at Canowindra and visited Orange, Cowra, Blayney and Millthorpe. I didn't make it to Bathurst. Please forgive me!"
Ms Stroud said she was researching small towns where there were big temperature drops and "Central NSW is certainly the place for that".
"I remember driving back to Canowindra from Millthorpe and being astonished by all the mice on the road," she said.
"During that time - late May, early June - there was a mouse plague. I'd never experienced that before.
"I was also taken with a particular sign I saw on one of the roadsides. It was a billboard advertising 'divorce-proof' stockyards.
"I wondered if it was a wedding gift I should purchase for my nephew who was due to get hitched the following year.
"I stopped and took pictures. It seemed oddly hilarious to me until a lovely farmer's wife explained it. I still think it's funny, but I understand the joke more now.
"And I think it'd make a great wedding present too."
Ms Stroud also has a friend who's a teacher in Cowra and "my gorgeous little Cavoodle Johnny came from Orange".
"But Bathurst is a complete 'first date' for me, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know the place," she said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Ms Stroud will talk about her new book at an event at Bathurst Library on Tuesday, August 8 at 6pm.
The Things That Matter Most is set in St Margaret's Primary School, where the staff are hanging by a thread: there's serious litigation pending, the school is due for registration and a powerful parent has a lot to say about everything.
Student Lionel Merrick is cheerful, likeable, helpful and devoted to his little sister, but he has a secret.
Ms Stroud, who lives on the Far South Coast, said she grew up in a small country town, "so they always feel like home to me".
"I love the architecture, the recent history and the ancient - love to know what country I'm standing in."
In terms of her plans for Bathurst, she said she'll be "looking for a good bookshop, a pub lunch and a park to stretch my leg... country towns always have the most lovely parklands - usually right in town".
"I believe there's a car race in Bathurst too?" she said. "I'd like to learn about that ... might make the pilgrimage up Mount Panorama while I'm here."
Bookings are essential for Gabbie Stroud's talk at Bathurst Library. Call 6333 6281.
