A student exchange trip to Thailand almost 40 years ago provided the inspiration for a book, written by a south-west woman, to be released this week.
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Meridith McKinnon, who lives in Ecklin South, wrote The Thai Wife which is set in Warrnambool and near the Burma Thai Border, a region she knows very well.
It tells the story of a Thai woman who marries a Warrnambool man in an attempt to escape her memories of a life filled with violence.
Ms McKinnon said her experiences had given her a unique understanding of displacement and how it affected the country. “Persecution around stateless people is confronting and I understand people’s reluctance to read about it,” she said.
“So when I thought about how I would write, I decided to tell my story in fiction. It is a story of love, betrayal and sacrifice. It is a story close to my heart and has been a long time sitting there waiting to be told. From a 16-year-old back in 1979, my story has finally found a voice.”
