By Abbey Cannan
Noosa hinterland author Josephine Moon recently shared her autism identity with the world, and is now bringing readers her most heart-warming tale yet, featuring an all autistic cast.
While this is her 10th novel overall, The Wonderful Thing About Phoenix Rose is her first book since learning she was autistic, which inspired her to craft the novel she felt she’d been born to write.
“There’s a lot of chaos and humour in this book,“ Josephine said of the book, which features a teacher’s spontaneous road trip with an eccentric dog, two senior cats, a clutch of chickens and a geriatric pony.
Josephine is a huge animal lover and lives on acreage in the beautiful Noosa hinterland with her husband and son, and a tribe of animals that seems to increase in size each year.
In ironic timing, Noosa Today journalist Abbey Cannan spoke with Josephine as she waited for the vet after a mishap with her horse.
“One of my horses knocked off a bowl of muesli that my husband had put on the car temporarily, and of course it smashed and my horse has been eating it, along with all the shards of porcelain as well,“ she said.
Jospehine has been celebrated for her successful foodie fiction throughout her career so far.
Her books include The Tea Chest, The Chocolate Promise, The Beekeeper’s Secret, Three Gold Coins, The Gift of Life, The Cake Maker’s Wish and The Jam Queens.
The Wonderful Thing About Phoenix Rose brings a fresh new storyline while still featuring her trademark warmth and uplifting style that celebrates community and friendship, with a powerful meaning behind it.
The author was late-identified as autistic, aged 45, and started writing this book two years ago.
“I guess like a lot of late-identifying autistic people, it was because my son was identified, and during the process of his assessments I recognised, particularly in the sensory profile section, so much of myself. I was ticking all of the boxes,“ Josephine said.
“The psychologist at the time dismissed that on the basis that I could make good eye contact, which is one of the myths of autism. It’s true for some, but not for all.
“Another few years later, a psychologist randomly said to me, ’I think you’re autistic’.
“In some ways, it’s relieving because when you’ve been unidentified and unsupported for decades, then you receive a lot of negative messages from people about how you’re just wrong or weird or you don’t fit in. So in that sense, I can say, there’s nothing wrong with me, my brain is just wired differently.
“At the same time, it’s a lot of processing. It’s really upsetting knowing your life could’ve been a lot different if you had known this earlier. The best thing that’s ever happened to me is connecting with a community of neuro-divergent people.
“Autistic people are the experts on autism, so they’re the ones who can shed light on your life on a day-to-day basis.“
One of the first people Josephine connected with after her son’s diagnosis was popular award-winning Australian actress Chloe Hayden.
Chloe shot to fame in the Netflix series Heartbreak High, and says she grew up thinking she “wasn’t supposed to exist“ because she never saw autistic people like herself represented in the media.
“I’ve known Chloe for seven years or something after reaching out online,“ Josephine said.
“We’ve had a really poor representation of autistic people in all forms of media until recently. It is important to show that autism can look like lots of different things, and mean different things to different people.
“I just want to open doors or plant seeds of acceptance to make the world an easier and kinder place for my son to step into one day. If I have any agenda it’s just to help the next generation have an easier time than the rest of us did without support.“
The Wonderful Thing About Phoenix Rose will be released in paperback, ebook and audiobook on 18 April, along with a Queensland book tour.
Don’t miss your chance to meet Josephine Moon at Noosaville Library on 21 April at 1pm. Bookings essential.
Visit penguin.com.au/events/3776-josephine-moon-at-noosaville-library
