The story of a country woman’s controversial return to her hometown, audiences around the world are falling in love with The Dressmaker – 15 years after they first fell in love with the novel.
But the women behind the box-office hit are much closer to home. Author Rosalie Ham and film producer Sue Maslin both attended secondary school at St Margaret’s in Berwick, lost touch for 30 years and reconnected over a shared passion for The Dressmaker. They shared their stories with KATHRYN BERMINGHAM.
THE daughter of a farmer, Rosalie Ham was raised in Jerilderie, New South Wales, but began boarding at St Margaret’s in Berwick in 1969.
Though it was worlds away from her Riverina home, Rosalie became close friends with both boarders and day girls and recalls fondly her years as a student at the school.
“Attending St Margaret’s was quite a vital thing for me,” she said.
“It made me look at where I came from and really see things from a new perspective.”
As well as connections with other girls, Rosalie has vivid recollections of passionate teachers at the school who fostered a love for literature.
“We had the best poetry teacher,” she said.
“She used to read us really good poetry, quite a lot of poetry from the war and she would just weep.
“It opened up a whole new level of literature for me.”
However Rosalie, who thought she would become either a nurse or teacher, had no idea that it would eventually be her who would inspire and empower audiences with her words.
Following her graduation from St Margaret’s, Rosalie travelled to Perth and then overseas.
She experienced Bali and Java, Europe, Beunos Aires and with her boyfriend rode a motorcycle across the USA before she returned to Australia to take advantage of Gough Whitlam’s free tertiary education policy.
Rosalie studied drama and literature to become a teacher but her passion for writing took over and led her to later enrol in a professional writing course.
It was on the instruction of a teacher that she started writing The Dressmaker.
Originally a short story, it continued to grow and evolve until it was completed as a novel three years later.
The story presents readers, and subsequently viewers, with elements that everyone can relate to.
“I wrote about the things that I was cross about,” Rosalie said of the small town that forms the setting of the story.
“Most communities share similar characters but in an isolated community you can skew the boundaries of what is acceptable.”
The themes of amity, ambition and competition are ones that Rosalie could relate to and ones that readers can relate to in their own lives. Yet she says it was crucial that the story didn’t become complacent.
“It had to be different to be interesting,” she said.
“It’s unpredictable and I’m pleased about that.”
In many ways, it makes sense that Rosalie Ham and Sue Maslin would share the same vision for a film portrayal of The Dressmaker.
After spending her first 12 years of life living on a farm on Toomuc Valley Road, Sue moved with her family to Jerilderie, the very same town where Rosalie grew up.
She returned to the area to complete her secondary education as a boarder, and tells of similarly fond memories of her time at St Margaret’s.
Following high school, Sue studied a degree in science at ANU in Canberra and then, “in a very roundabout way” found her way to media production where she has worked ever since.
Initially it seemed like bad timing when Sue reached out to Rosalie to tell her how much she admired her work.
“Sadly she had already assigned the rights to another producer,” Sue said.
“We didn’t even discuss the making the film until about five years later.”
In the mid-2000s, Rosalie signed over the rights to The Dressmaker on one condition – that Rosalie herself be allowed to act as an extra in the film. Sue was happy to oblige.
“There was a lot of trust between us,” Sue said.
“I introduced Rosalie to Jocelyn Moorhouse (the director of the film) and they were very happy poring over the story together.”
Sue has dedicated seven years to the film, but said it’s been a labour of love.
“It’s an exaggerated reality of a small town,” she said of the narrative.
“But everybody can relate to the small village or the small town and what goes on.”
Both Rosalie and Sue speak about the success of the film with a sense of pride, as they should. Their many years of work have found success on the biggest stage.
On 21 October, Rosalie returned to St Margaret’s to address the school’s current students on their speech night.
Speaking to the graduating class, she encouraged the girls to look at the bigger picture.
“I talked about not being focused on myself,” she said.
“The invention of the mirror turned society around, and people have become very self-consumed and consumed by what’s presented as themselves.
“You need to turn the selfie stick around.”
