Paula Xiberras
Brian Panowich is the author of ‘Bull Mountain’, and with the name Brian of Celtic origin meaning ‘high’ or ‘noble’ it seems fitting that his first novel is about the politics of power with a pinch of family feuding befitting even the Celtic High Kings. As I talk to Brian from his home town of Georgia I am greeted by a generous individual, full of humour and humility and one that can’t quite believe his success as an author.
So down to earth is Brian, he still works his job as a fireman and makes use of his time in between shifts for writing.
Brian tells me he knows nothing about Australia but would love to visit and he is well used to travelling, when he left school he formed a band and music played a significant part in his life until he married and realised he didn’t want to be on the road anymore. Brian followed this career with a stint in journalism. He had always wanted to be a storyteller and so after what he calls a 20 year detour he arrived at Bull Mountain where he wrote the family drama, an epic story of what he describes as ‘Kane and Abel proportions’. The area detailed in the novel is not where he grew up but is in fact an area where his wife has roots and the people of the foothills of these mountains are her ‘own people’.
In an early part of the book we hear the protagonists talking about a bear they captured and how they let no part of it go to waste. This resourcefulness is echoed throughout the novel.
Like all authors Brian believes in Morris Gleitzman’s ‘magic spaces’ where author and reader meet. The reader bringing their own rich life experiences to their understanding of the story. Brian says sometimes his readers surprise him with their insights, for example one reader asked if his calling a character ‘Ryley’ was a nod to the ‘rye’ whiskey that features in the book. Brian thinks it’s fantastic that readers can connect in this way, calling it ‘awesome’.
I offer one of my own insights, enquiring whether the novel is called Bull Mountain in reference to the unshakeable nature of the main protagonists. Brian tells me the novels name came about when he travelled through some mountainous terrain and saw a sign with the name ‘Bull Mountain’ on the trail.
One of the features of the novel is the strong female characters including the capable Kate who Brian tells me will headline her own spin off novel.
The mountain machinations come full circle by the conclusion of the novel but on the way there are many twists and turns, more than on a twisty, turning mountain road. While the novel begins with a life lost, the ending sees a life regained and a determination to maintain the family presence on the mountain.
Bull Mountain is out now published by Harper Collins
