Rail Musings
Intrigue, conflict, nostalgia… and murder, all set on a rail journey across Australia. This is how travelling The Ghan became the inspiration for two novels of wildly different genres.
Australian authors Benjamin Stevenson and Tricia Stringer have recently released novels set on this legendary train journey – one, a murder mystery, the other, a relationship drama. The Ghan, it seems, plays the role of author’s muse intriguingly well and begs the question: how can this one setting be the perfect place for two stories of such different genres to unfold? We asked each writer to tell us what it was about travelling on The Ghan that inspired their latest works of fiction.
Everyone on this train is a suspect
WORDS Benjamin Stevenson
Behind all the bells and whistles, tricks and clues, you only need two things to write a perfect murder mystery. First, you need a cast of reprobates. A group of characters with crisscrossing connections and resentments that will lead one (or more) of them to murder. Second, you need a place to put them.
Once I’d come up with my cast – the world’s best crime writers, editors, agents and fans at a mystery writers’ festival – I knew The Ghan would be the ideal place to put them. Place is key to crime novels: it can be sprawling (like Jack Irish’s Melbourne) or intimate (like Aaron Falk’s Kiewarra). Both work brilliantly, but I am personally a fan of the “contained” mystery. This is because enclosing characters in a single location allows their powder-keg of motivations to explode. A train, like The Ghan, remotely crossing Australia, provides both this constriction of forcing all the characters together, but also plenty of other perks. For one thing, there’s no mobile phone reception, the bane of many crime writers’ existence. And the movement itself is a great plot hook: once you’re on board, there’s no getting off.
One of the difficulties of writing a locked-room mystery is that for all the tension a single location presents, narratively and descriptively it provides challenges for a writer, as you can’t move your characters to a new spot, or introduce new people, to liven up proceedings. The Ghan was the perfect solution as it passes from the mangroves of Darwin (Garamilla) through the red central desert, the opal mines of Cooper Pedy (Umoona), and the green hills of Adelaide (Tarndanya). This gave me the perfect opportunity to explore a bigger scope to suit a novel, while still fitting my single location in style. I had the best of both worlds: a locked room that moves.
The other thing I’m a fan of in murder mysteries is what I call ‘reverse opulence’. These are novels where the setting is so beautiful, it is in complete contrast to the deeds and crimes that happen there. My previous novel was set in an exclusive ski resort for this reason, and The Ghan’s splendour is the perfect opulent facade to hide some evil deeds.
I was lucky enough to travel on The Ghan to research this book. As soon as I boarded, I knew it was even more perfect than I’d imagined for my murder mystery. It felt like I was in an Agatha Christie novel – and yet distinctly unique and Australian (from the local produce on the menus, to the historic pit-stops, and desert sunsets). The book began to write itself. (I did, having been on the train, have to reconsider a chase scene through the corridors – the train wasn’t wide enough for the action scene I had plotted!) The staff were incredibly helpful too, only looking at me quizzically once when I asked if the kitchen’s cool room was cold enough to store a corpse.
Another note on the staff: if you’re looking for brilliance, look no further than the staff here. By the end of the trip, people were coming up to me saying: “So, I’ve thought of a really fun way you could kill someone…” So not only are they five-star staff, but five-star accomplices as well.
I hope reading the mystery in Everyone on this Train is a Suspect transports readers with a little taste of The Ghan. It really is, as some of the unfortunate characters in my book discover, quite literally, a once-in-a-lifetime ride.
There’s just something about trains – namely The Ghan – that inspires an air of mystery and literary intrigue.
Back on Track
WORDS Tricia Stringer
Taking a holiday is one of life’s special pleasures, but when our bucket-list Ghan experience became the setting of my latest novel, Back on Track, it doubled the delight, as I re-lived the journey all over again with my characters. Several years ago, I created a character called Ketty Clift. Ketty is a couture dressmaker from Sydney (Warrane)and I sent her on a cruise. After that story, I’ve always thought Ketty should go on another holiday, so taking The Ghan journey myself had an added expectation for me. The excitement in the air was palpable as I passed through the Darwin (Garamilla) terminal and at last, the train was revealed. The dual red engines of The Ghan and its trail of silver carriages stretched into the distance, shimmering beneath a cloudless blue sky and I immediately knew a new adventure was awaiting both Ketty and me.
The Ghan had been on the cards for quite some time for my husband and another couple, good friends we regularly travel with, so boarding the train had long been anticipated. It didn’t disappoint, with welcoming staff and comfortable accommodation. With a quick unpack and our experiences for the next three days planned, we soon moved on to the communal lounge car. Here we settled in very quickly and before the train had even left the station, with drinks in hand, we were already making new friends.
I write life experience stories with contemporary themes set in familiar Australian landscapes. I love delving into our relationships with family and friends and exploring what makes us the people we are. The Ghan brings together a diverse range of people on a fascinating journey and is the perfect setting for stories like mine. Friends and strangers thrown together on a luxury holiday travelling through the Australian outback gives plenty of scope for intrigue and conflict, for forging new relationships and testing old ones, with all the action taking place in an enchanting setting.
“A train, like The Ghan, remotely crossing Australia, provides both this constriction of forcing all the characters together, but also plenty of other perks.”
Ketty Clift Couture is a long-established business with a small number of dedicated staff who usually work together well, but when cracks appear in their relationships threatening the stability of Ketty’s business she decides to take them on a holiday, on the Ghan no less. I enjoyed the Ghan experience so much, it was easy for many aspects of it to be woven into my story. There were lots of small things – the initial exploration of the carriages, the attentive staff who so quickly learned our names, the camaraderie of the lounge car, adapting to the movement of the train – that worked their way into my story. Each new experience, both on and off the train, was memorable, but dinner under the stars was particularly special for me. We enjoyed a magnificent meal against the backdrop of the Alice Springs Telegraph Station with music and dancing and an informative introduction to the stars that glittered in the vast outback sky overhead. This became the setting for some great scheming, character conflict, and plot building in Back on Track. A similarly intriguing setting was the remote Manguri siding, where the train stops literally in the middle of nowhere so passengers can access the unique experience of Coober Pedy.
I hope that, as it was for me writing the book, readers will re-live their own special Ghan experience or for those who haven’t been, that they’ll enjoy the fictional ride so much that they’ll take their own Ghan journey. Whether you’re from Australia or just visiting our beautiful country, there can be no more iconic experience than this one.
Need to Know
TOUR
Poets, painters, singers, and writers have found inspiration in the Australian outback for centuries. Let your imagination run away with you on The Ghan as you travel across Australia’s red centre on an all-inclusive journey.
OFF-TRAIN
There are some incredible and immersive Off Train Experiences to be shared along the journey, including a cruise in Nitmiluk Gorge, camel rides in Alice Springs, and an exclusive dining experience at Telegraph Station.