Join Penelope Janu in conversation with bestselling author Sandie Docker as they discuss The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir, a heart-warming, heart-wrenching tale of family, sisterhood and discovering your voice. Sisters Eleanor and Maggie have been running the Lyrebird Lake Ladies choir for 15 years. It’s become a haven for lost and lonely women including new arrival, Hannah, and her son. A lyrical, deeply moving story of facing secrets, finding your way home, and the power of discovering your voice.

TICKETS WILL OPEN FOR BOOKING ON 12 JUNE.

MEET SANDIE DOCKER

Australian author, Sandie Docker grew up in Coffs Harbour, and first fell in love with reading when her father introduced her to fantasy books as a teenager. Her love of Women’s Fiction began when she first read Jane Austen for the HSC, but it wasn’t until she was taking a translation course at university that her Mandarin lecturer suggested she might have a knack for writing – a seed of an idea that sat quietly in the back of her mind while she lived overseas and travelled the world. Sandie first decided to put pen to paper (yes, she writes the old-fashioned way when she can before hitting a keyboard) when living in London. She is the author of six heart-wrenching and uplifting stories of love, loss, family and small country towns

Now back in Sydney, Sandie writes about love, loss, family and small country towns. Her debut novel, The Kookaburra Creek Café, was released in 2018, The Cottage At Rosella Cove in 2019, The Banksia Bay Beach Shack in 202O, The Wattle Island Book Club in 2021 and The Redgum River Retreat in 2023. Her sixth novel, The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir, will be released in June 2024. Sandie is also the founder and director of The Northern Beaches Readers Festival.

MEET PENELOPE JANU

Penelope Janu lives on the coast in northern Sydney with a distracting husband, a very large dog and, now they're fully grown, six delightful children who come and go. Penelope has a passion for creating stories that explore social and environmental issues, but her novels are fundamentally a celebration of Australian characters and communities. Her first novel, In at the Deep End, came out with HarperCollins/ HQ in 2017. Since then, she’s had two novellas and eight novels published, the most recent being her December 2023 release, Sunshine through the Rain. Penelope enjoys riding horses, exploring the Australian countryside and dreaming up challenging hiking adventures. Nothing makes her happier as a writer than readers falling in love with her clever, complex and adventurous heroines and heroes.