Emma Lord’s Anomaly: Hope and Resilience in a Post-Apocalyptic World

Australian author Emma Lord draws inspiration from her personal experiences of grief, postnatal anxiety, and a global pandemic to craft Anomaly, her captivating young adult novel set in a post-epidemic dystopia. With a unique Australian setting and a poignant exploration of memory and connection, the story offers hope amidst dark times.

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By Adeline Teoh

Emma Lord was several drafts into her novel about a girl who survives a virus-led apocalypse when Covid-19 hit. While the real pandemic didn’t alter its fictional counterpart, it did give Emma “insight into things I previously hadn’t considered – mostly around human behaviour”. It also gave her pause.

“I do remember questioning whether anyone would want to publish or read a book involving a pandemic, given we were living through the grim reality of one,” she recalls. “I ploughed on, though, because I wanted to see the story through.”

Winning the Varuna and Affirm Press Mentorship Award in 2020 helped the book along. “It provided me with the unique opportunity to spend a week at Varuna, The National Writers’ House, with two editors from Affirm Press. I received feedback on my story while also getting a sense of their editorial vision for it,” she explains. “I’d sat with the manuscript for so long by then that it was immensely helpful to get a fresh perspective, and I was able to go away with a clear plan for revisions. That eventually led to publication, which was a dream come true.”

The result is Anomaly, a young adult novel about a post-epidemic dystopia. “I’ve always been drawn to dystopian stories and Anomaly’s post-apocalyptic premise evolved from that interest,” says Lord. “But the plot, the main antagonists, and the story’s themes were shaped by my personal experiences of both grief and postnatal anxiety. The monsters in Anomaly are monsters of the mind: they reflect cycling thinking, paralysing fear, and the feeling of being mentally stuck in a dark place.”

Exploring Grief and Mental Resilience in a Dystopian Landscape

Grief – its “complex nature” and “the different ways it manifests” – infused the novel when the author lost her mum to cancer in 2019. “For me, grief led to a lot of existential questions and I ended up exploring those. The book covers some dark subject matter, but at its core it’s a hopeful story about the power of memory, and connections that transcend all obstacles – even death.”

Being a professional writer isn’t a new role for Lord – she works from her home in Lilyfield as a copywriter and balanced the two types of writing with “a lot” of compartmentalisation. “There’s no typical writing day for me: one day I’m writing dental ads, the next I’m back in post-apocalyptic Australia and my characters are in mortal danger. At least I’m never bored.”

A Unique Australian Setting for a Global Story

The Australian setting was a late confirmation for the book, she shares. Lord was living in the US when she started the novel and toyed with setting it there. “But upon returning home I fixed on an Australian setting, and something clicked. We have a unique landscape that is beautiful, haunting and hostile all at the same time – what better place for a post-apocalyptic monster invasion to play out?”

And while Lilyfield’s monster count is much lower than Anomaly’s, it does have a healthy creature count, one of the benefits of living in the inner city location with the “village vibe”, says Lord. “We’re close to Whites Creek, and my daughter loves to stop in and visit the turtles in the wetlands area. We spotted a tawny frogmouth down there once during an evening walk. We have kookaburras, frogs, and brushtail possums frequent our back deck – it’s pretty special.”

Anomaly (Affirm Press, 2024) RRP$22.99, is out now at Roaring Stories and Hill of Content Balmain, and other good bookstores.

Local favourite

If you’re planning a visit to Lilyfield, come on Saturday, says author Emma Lord. “I’d recommend Orange Grove Market on a Saturday morning for coffee and gözleme, followed by Rozelle Collectors Market just up the road – I love sifting through the vintage treasures there.” And if you need a break from markets, take a stroll around Peacock Point Reserve for water views on a nice day.