Newspaper House

The Manor Apartments (Aka Newspaper House) is one of Brisbane’s more beautiful heritage buildings and was the inspiration for my new novel, Newspaper House. These grand old buildings, so rich in history and architectural beauty, are sadly becoming a scarce commodity. My hope is that they can avoid the unwanted attention of developers and be valued and preserved for the treasures that they are.

Just pick any heritage building and delve into its past and you’ll probably find it holds some fascinating stories, and although my story is purely fictional, it does touch on some very real issues.

When I began this project, I found I was not the first to be enchanted by the building’s charm. In 2016, Director Taika Waititi used the American-inspired Art Deco building as part of the New York City backdrop in his film Thor: Ragnarok.

I also discovered many coincidences and parallels to my story, and each time I sat down at my desk my research uncovered a little more. That my story was based around a newspaper office and that the Manor Apartment building was once owned by Queensland Newspapers, came as an astonishing surprise.

In 1985 the building became known as Newspaper House, so not only did it’s history have surprising similarities to my story, it also gave me a very convenient title for my book.

My research unearthed more and more surprises, but the most astonishing was the revelation that aspects of my fictional story were alarmingly close to fact. From the obscene abuse of powers within our state-run institutions to the horrors inflicted in the name of medical research, the story was taking on a life of its own. So, while it started out as purely fictional, it is sadly close to a terrible reality. This was a story that wanted to be told.