North Fremantle author Claire Merchant.
Camera IconNorth Fremantle author Claire Merchant. Credit: Supplied/Jon Hewson        www.communitypix.com.au d442990

Author Claire Merchant: getting to the heart of Nora

Jessica NicoFremantle Gazette

Year 11 student Nora Hadley has not had the easiest of high school lives, teased relentlessly for her strict religious upbringing, but when she falls for her new literature teacher and starts crossing a few boundaries, she begins to go down a dangerous path.

For North Fremantle author Claire Merchant, the premise for her fourth book Knowing Nora came as she finished one of her previous books.

“I wanted to explore what happened before that particular story so started working on Knowing Nora as a kind of prequel,” she said.

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“I knew from the beginning where it needed to end so just focused on making it as convincing as possible.

“I wanted the decisions that Nora made to feel realistic and really make the reader understand why she needed to make them.”

Despite having a teenage audience in mind, Merchant said the book would be a good read for anyone who enjoyed being young at heart.

“I really like this story, it’s one of my favourites,” she said.

“I think that it has a lot of heart and the characters have a lot of heart.

“Anyone would be able to relate to it in some way.

“It’s a pretty easy read but you may need a handkerchief handy at some point.”

Never one to keep her fingers idle, Merchant is currently working on two sequels to her first book Mistry by Moonlight.

Knowing Nora is available from online bookstores or Amazon.