Author Neil Kirby is preparing to launch his debut novel, a story steeped in the history and character of Harden, the town where his own journey began.
“I have wanted to write a novel for as long as I can remember, even back in my school days,” he said.
“It's why I am headed to my school from where I graduated 48 years ago, to launch this novel. Truly the seeds were planted back then. This particular story has evolved over many years. I've got to know the characters very well. I can hear them speak. They are like dear friends to me. Problem is a busy executive work life consumed me and it was not until I had a stroke, and moved into the slow lane, I began transferring my thoughts to paper.”
Kirby said his connection to Harden runs deep. “I was born in Harden, we lived in Albury Street, opposite the school, we left when I was young and moved to the Wollongong area, growing up in Warilla. But I always had a love for Harden and a love for the farm,” he said.
“My mum had grown up on the farm, which was owned and run by her brother and when he died, her sister ran it. It broke my heart when she was too frail to continue. Even after we moved to Wollongong I would return every school holiday I could. Many of the stories in my book reflect personal experiences I had on the farm.”
Latest Stories
For Kirby, the setting goes beyond geography. “It is more about what the word Binya means to me,” he said.
“Many years later when I researched the meaning of Binya, I found it had numerous meanings and interpretations. In some places it means a place of rest, of comfort. I interpret that as a place one feels safe and secure and at peace. That was my experience of the farm, and that is reflected in the book.”
Kirby said the book also pays homage to Harden-Murrumburrah’s history.
“I am inspired by the history of Harden-Murrumburrah and particularly the involvement in the birth of the Australian Light Horse. I found Major-General Mackay a fascinating person. Not only was he a decorated soldier, but besides being a jockey he was a noted poet,” he said.
“If I was going to write about the Harden-Murrumburrah spirit, it was important I began with him and his legacy. But whilst having that base in history, I stress the story in the book and the lead character's family is fictional.”
At its heart, the novel explores themes of identity and belonging.
“Many of us search for who we really are. Some of us are not aware who we really are. In a world that is so much focused on the future, the past gets forgotten. And sometimes we forget the past may hold secrets that determine who we truly are.” Kirby said.
“We struggle to find answers, but so often the answers we can't find are in front of us our entire life. And I take you back to that meaning of Binya, or the meaning it has for me, we all are in search of that sitting place, that place of rest. You will need to read the book to find who finds that place of rest and who doesn't.”
About the Book
The novel follows Cameron Blanche, a forensic accountant living in Dubai, whose return to his family farm after his grandmother’s death uncovers long-buried secrets.
His journey forces him to confront broken relationships and rediscover the meaning of home, while revealing truths that have been in front of him all along.
About the Author
Kirby holds degrees in journalism, business, and public health, and has spent his career leading ambulance services in Australia and the Middle East, with research in Canada. Awarded the Australian Government Ambulance Service Medal in 2004, he remains passionate about rural health care and the human connections at its heart.