Obernewtyn (novel) - Composition

Composition

Isobelle Carmody began writing the book when she was fourteen, in 1972. She rewrote and developed it throughout high school and university. After briefly working as a journalist, she left to write full-time. Penguin Books agreed to publish the book when Carmody submitted the manuscript in her early twenties and it was published in 1987. Carmody has said that the character and life experiences of Elspeth reflect her own:

As a girl, I felt myself to be a Misfit. I was the eldest of eight children and I grew up in this tough neighbourhood where there were kids that beat up odd kids like me who read and wrote stories. I longed not to fit in and be like the other kids, but to find people who were like me. And of course like probably every kid, though I did not know that then, I longed to have something important to do. I longed to be special. I think this is the natural result of the powerlessness of children in a world of adults that don’t always seem to be looking after the world all that well. —Isobelle Carmody, 2008

The author named The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Doolittle and books about Pippi Longstocking as sources of influence.