Treading Air (31 page)

Acknowledgements

The events in this novel are loosely based on the life of Elizabeth O'Dea, alias Betty Knight, O'Brian, Stewart and Johnston, as she appears in newspaper articles in
The Cairns Post
,
Townsville Daily Bulletin
and
Brisbane Courier
from the 1920s to 1940s, as well as the brief mention of Elizabeth and Joseph O'Dea in James Morton and Susanna Lobez's
Gangland Queensland
(2012, Melbourne University Publishing). Lizzie O'Dea is largely silent in these accounts. In this novel, I invent her personality, beliefs and day-to-day behaviours for the purposes of fiction and the character presented here is likely to be significantly different from the real Lizzie O'Dea. However, the newspaper articles in the novel are verbatim extracts from papers of the day.

Raelene Frances'
Selling Sex: A Hidden History of Prostitution
(2007, UNSW Press) and Leigh S. Straw's
Drunks, Pests and Harlots: Criminal Women in Perth and Fremantle
(2013, Humming Earth) were invaluable in presenting the historical and political context of women's experiences of prostitution in Australia. Jill Nagle's edited collection of writings from contemporary sex workers,
Whores and Other Feminists
(1997, Routledge), provided rich insight into the experiences of sex work from a feminist perspective.

I am grateful to Ray Hollyoak for his knowledge of the history of sex work in Townsville, and to Dr Shelley Greer for her advice about Townsville in the 1920s. Some of the historical detail has been altered to fit the narrative and timeline.

‘Startlingly beautiful, a joy! Van Luyn renders this time in Australian history in full technicolour.'
ALICE ROBINSON

In 1920s Queensland,
Lizzie O'Dea wants to get away from her dad and the memories of her mum that haunt her. At the races she meets attractive, war-scarred Joe and sees her chance to escape. But life with Joe isn't what she dreamt it would be.

Finding herself on the fringes of society, Lizzie discovers a new sense of independence and sexuality, love and friendship. It's a precarious life, though, always on the edge of collapse.

Two decades later, Lizzie is sick and worn out. Lying in a Brisbane lock hospital, she thinks about Joe, who's been lost to her for many years. But she's a survivor. There's hope yet.

Set between Brisbane and Townsville, and based on real events that the author uncovered from historical archives,
Treading Air
is the remarkably vivid tale of a young Australian working-class rebel who clashed with the expectations of her world.

‘I love Lizzie O'Dea, a fallen woman who is tough and tender ' a desiring, sensuous creature who deserves compassion without ever demanding pity. Ariella Van Luyn has crafted a rare and surprising historical depiction of a woman who lusts and loves, and owns her own sexuality even when it nearly kills her.'
ROCHELLE SIEMIENOWICZ