A Few Words With…
Christine Bell
For anyone who has not read 'No Small Shame' how would you describe the book?
No Small Shame is a gritty story of female agency set during WW1. Arriving in Australia, young immigrant Mary O’Donnell must quickly adjust her hopes and expectations, when firstly war is declared, and then she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Poor, Catholic, uneducated, she has little choice but to marry the father of her baby. While he escapes to the trenches, Mary is left to raise their child alone and face the judgement of her family, her church and society. Set over 10 years, No Small Shame is a story of choices and consequences, loss and betrayal, and Mary’s journey to find herself, her strength, her independence and, ultimately, her voice.
In creating 'No Small Shame' can you explain what you set out to do and is the finished product very different?
My original intention was to write a powerful story of immigration, but as the work progressed, the overwhelming refrain I heard from many, was that female protagonists must be ‘feisty’, ‘strong’, ‘independent’, and charge through the world making a difference for all who follow. The reality of the novel’s setting, and with the restrictions of Mary’s age, religion, lack of education, background, and no benefactor to support her, such a charge was impossible. It worried me how I could make the story accessible to the modern reader while still being authentic to the era. I’d long wondered why women didn’t rebel, step away from their kitchens and oppression sooner, but in the early years of last century, choices and options for poor or working-class women were scant. Survival of their families far more pressing than liberation. As the story of No Small Shame evolved and Mary trapped in an unhappy, abusive marriage, it became burningly clear to me that poor and lowly did not have to mean weak. Mary is strong of spirit and personality and it was important for me to show how even in repressed circumstances she (and women) could grow and take small steps towards emotional and financial independence without the aid of a man or white charger.
I know your work draws so much on history. Try and define why it's still important to write about other times and different experiences.
It’s only by looking back that we can see how far we’ve come. How far we have to go. How slow the progress. Wondering how and when women began to seek the right to independence led me to study the restrictions and barriers women faced in every facet of their lives early last century. Of course, similar restrictions occur today in various religions and societies. The difference today, in Australia at least, is that there are educational and financial options, and assistance available outside of family and home to those who seek it.
Two world wars offered employment and autonomy opportunities for many women, though not so much here in Australia during WW1. The obligation to support the fighting men and their recovery, upon the return home, was considered a patriotic debt as much as honouring one’s marriage vows. War and its medical aftermath ensured many women remained house and husband bound for decades. The impact of a given moment in history, its political climate and societal expectations, changes the responses and reactions of individuals and society. As both a woman and a writer, I find the study of the how, what and why endlessly fascinating. Reading historical stories invites greater understanding of ourselves as human beings and hopefully a stronger desire not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
There was a beautiful review in Westerly where the critic mentioned your great grandparents. Can you share a little of their story and why it inspired you?
Thank you! I loved that review too! My great-grandparents immigrated from Ireland to the tiny coal mining village of Bothwellhaugh, Scotland in search of work in 1901. Ten years later, they immigrated to Australia so my great-grandfather could work in the ‘cleaner’, ‘better paying’ State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi. While researching my family history, I visited the Wonthaggi Historical Society Museum and the State Coal Mine site, I kept hearing whispers, ‘there’s a story here’. And, ‘what a great setting.’ My writerly imagination was fired, though I’d no clue yet as to a storyline, or Mary. My own family were very, dare I say, ordinary people, and hard workers. No fabulous untold story or hidden secrets, but to me, immigrating twice and uprooting your family in search of a better life, even if a common story, felt personal and intriguing. Once Mary turned up, I knew there was a lot more to it. Ideas began to spark. The urge to write her story so strong I abandoned an already started novel.
Finally, might you tell us a little about what your next book is about?
My new work, The Bone Singer, is set in the year immediately following the Great War, and tells the story of an Australian soldier who stays on in France in the aftermath of World War One, to search for the body of his lifelong mate. The novel explores the childhood trauma that prevents him from returning home and the corrosiveness of guilt. The Bone Singer was shortlisted for the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. The novel is currently under submission to publishers.
