Goodreads asked Rachel Hennessy:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Rachel Hennessy THE HEAVEN I SWALLOWED was inspired by both the stories of my maternal grandmother and my paternal great aunt. However, it was really kicked off many years ago when our former PM, John Howard, said that Aboriginal children has been taken from their homes for "their own good". This got me thinking about the notion of what it is to do good and who defines what is good for someone else. My narrator, Grace, started talking inside my head at the very beginning of the process and she stayed with me for the many years of writing the novel.

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