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definebookish's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Twentysomething August Gondiwindi is living on the other side of the world when news of her grandfather’s death reaches her. ‘Poppy’ Albert helped to raise her back in Massacre Plains, on the banks of the now dried-up Murrumby River – a home she was ready enough to leave behind for England a decade ago. Returning for his funeral, she now finds the family land under threat from a mining company and her grandmother resigned to impending displacement.
I loved this story of family and legacy and language from Tara June Winch. In the present day we have August, grieving not only her grandfather but a lost sister, and parents lost in other ways entirely. Interwoven with her narrative are excerpts from the Wiradjuri dictionary that Albert was writing before his death – much more than context or seasoning, the definitions tell his own story of love and loss as one of the Stolen Generation. A third strand is a serialised letter penned over a century earlier by one Reverend Greenleaf, a European missionary whose supposed benevolence brings suffering upon the indigenous people he means to help.
While Greenleaf’s sections perhaps don’t sing in the way the other two do, together all three strands combine into a compelling feat of scale and perspective. This is both the story of the violent colonisation of an entire people, and an intimate story of personal pain and personal joy.
The sense of place is beautifully vivid here, all the more so for the privilege of seeing the country rendered partly through indigenous words. The author’s note explains that pre-colonisation, there were over 250 distinct languages in Australia, and about 600 dialects – and having read this story of a man rediscovering his ancestral language after having it wrenched so brutally away, there’s a bittersweetness to the thirty-page Wiradjuri dictionary Winch includes at the end of the story. A moving, hopeful, triumphant book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Forced institutionalization
demo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
spacelime's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Police brutality, Genocide, Racism, and Rape
miaj_99's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Death, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Cancer
emilyrainsford's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"I asked her, 'Who do I tell?' and she said, 'Just tell the truth and someone will hear it eventually.' I guess that is what I'm doing, finally."
August Gondiwindi returns from Europe to Prosperous House (a former mission, now farm) to mourn the death of her Poppy, Albert Gondiwindi. Her story, as she grapples to make peace with the parts of her personal past she's run from and ignored, is interspersed with two other perspectives and formats - the language dictionary that Albert was writing before he died, and a letter from the German Reverend who started Prosperous Mission around the turn of the century in a misguided attempt to "save" the local Aborigines.
The way these three formats intertwine to tell both August's journey and also a story that is so much bigger, is the absolute gentle genius of this novel. Although the narrative is more a slow moving river than a raging rapid, I found the short chapters and different formats meant it never felt boring or lost its impact. I suppose you would call this story "powerful", but it's not *punch in the face* powerful, but rather the *seep under your skin* kind. It never becomes preachy or heavy handed, but rather tells its truth with a calm sincerity that sinks deep.
In a way, I think August's journey - of facing her difficult past and coming to terms with it, of things lost and things found, of realising what has to be let go of and what needs to be held on to - is a parallel to the journey of her family and on a wider scale, her people. I found a lot of August's feelings and inner journey very relatable and I think that is part of the elegance of this book too - to bring the pain of a people to a personal level... which, as Mandy says at the end, makes it personal to all of us. Not a "them" story, but an "us" story, a human story.
Reading a dictionary may not sound exciting, but Albert's sections were my favourite parts of this novel. The way his story is slowly revealed through his dictionary entries and connection to his language is masterful. The inclusion of the perspective of the German missionary I found really interesting and helped illuminate the complexity of the issue - illustrating how sometimes bad things can be perpetuated by people who think they're doing the right thing.
This is a book that will be with me for a long time - an impactful read very deserving of all its awards, honestly flawless and nothing less than 5 stars would do it justice.
** I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) I live on, and honour the Elders, past and present. **
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
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