NOT SO TRIVIAL

One evening. Four couples. No holds barred. In her twisty, turny debut novel, Ali Lowe explores the fallout of a trivia night where the questions are the least interesting part...

Gossip, over-the-top costumes, free-flowing drinks, outrageous flirting, dad dancing... and that’s before the questions even begin. Welcome to the joys of an Australian school trivia night as perfectly captured in Ali Lowe’s debut novel.

DELICIOUS INTRIGUE

With the television rights optioned before it even hits the shelves, The Trivia Night focuses on Darley Heights Public School, lovingly painted in the broad brushstrokes of schools everywhere, with the cliques that ebb and flow through its gates, classrooms and principal’s office. Think gossip girls, committee heads, athleisurewear lovers, SUV drivers and drooled-over dads. What gives Darley its extra thrill is the titular trivia night, where four sets of kindy parents take the idea of swinging from hypothetical to ‘what did we do?’ amid a fallout that threatens to tear all of their lives apart. The story found its spark in a deliciously timehonoured fashion – watercooler-worthy dinner conversation with a good friend.

FRIENDLY BANTER

“My friend said to me ‘Word on the street is there’s a group of parents at my primary school that are swingers’, and I was just kind of fascinated by that,” recalls Ali. “And we had this really long, sort of drawn-out conversation just discussing the implications. Like, how would you face someone at the

school gates? And how horrendous it could be. You know, someone could become obsessed, or what if someone got pregnant? All these questions were kind of popping into our minds and we were discussing them over a glass of wine. I was really intrigued... I just couldn’t kind of shake it.” A week later, with her mind full of character, relationship and back story, and a spot in a novel-writing course, Ali sat down to write. Starting with complicated co-leading lady Amanda.

THE SISTERHOOD

Like most of the book’s core women (who share in the story telling), Amanda is dealing with both ‘first world’ and all-too-real problems, many leading back to her relationship with alcohol. Other themes the book explores, with a deft meld of humour and pathos, include the delights and drudgery of family life, infertility, blackmail, grief, sexuality and the intrigue of not just how marriages survive swinging, but friendships as well. It’s fertile ground, but with a deliberately uplifting message – that women may be pitted against each other by things like schoolyard politics, but when life goes wrong they have each other’s backs. “I’ve got some really good girlfriends in my life and I’d be absolutely lost without them,” explains Ali. “So I wanted that to come across really strongly... that women really are supportive of one another and of the power of female companionship and friendship.” Even if people aren’t always what they seem...