Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Yield

A lot of respect for Tara June Winch for the insane research that went into making this book, which she reveals in her author's note at the end. While the world of The Yield is fictional, it is based on a number of real incidents, places, and memories that occurred in Wiradjuri land, in the Murrumbidgee Valley. As a Wiradjuri woman, writing The Yield must have been both a gutwrenching and deeply cathartic exercise for Winch, which is evident in its often visceral, deeply textured prose. Lots of blood and saliva and dirt and sweat on the pages here, reminding me a lot of Faulkner whom Winch references in the text. Beyond that, The Yield introduced me to both the landscape and the associated dreaming of Wiradjuri country, as well as the Wiradjuri language. The linguistic aspects here are incredibly historically and culturally significant, as Winch weaves Wiradjuri phrasing throughout the book in the form of the Gondiwindi dictionary - which she reproduces in full at the end - creating perhaps the first (?) work of fiction in the Wiradjuri language, enshrining Wiradjuri as a language that will remain preserved in spite of the systematic cultural erasure that has sadly destroyed so many Indigenous languages throughout Australia. Indeed, Winch notes that since Invasion, Indigenous Australian languages have suffered the most extensive and rapid extinction known to history.

These aspects alone make The Yield a book that should be widely read, as well as an "Australian" text that is deeply world-historically significant, but it does more than restore a language and a culture that has experience so much loss. It is a new, postcolonial spin on a classic Australian narrative of the harshness of the land and our relationship to violent memory. This time, however, Indigenous Australians are centred in the story as primary subjects, rather than ancillary/foils to white colonists, and violence is seen as sustained as a consequence of colonisation, displacement, neglect, and disenfranchisement. The loss of land, rather than its acquisition, is the locus for violence and conflict, here seen in the very relevant dispute of a mining company attempting to acquire the Gondiwindi family's property. We discover that this property - like all property in Australia - has a complicated and often contradictory history of its own. Winch interrogates what land means to many Indigenous people after it has been seized for so long, and the emotional and psychological difficulties of reclaiming it and defending it.

I did have some structural problems with the book, namely that August is not a particularly compelling or well-developed character, and the plot takes probably too long to kick in (basically not till the final third). Things are wrapped up a little too quickly, with some very weak explanation as to why, because so much time has been spent meditating before Winch needs to build to her climax. This might be due to the complex three-strand narrative that Winch is working here, which I found compelling even if it makes things much slower. The dictionary passages are easily the best thing in here, especially the way they comment on the contemporary narrative, link Greenleaf's narrative to the present, and give us insight into the history of Massacre and the Gondiwindi family.

Still, The Yield is an immense, significant book that is brilliantly, evocatively written, and is doing incredible things. It's rare to come across a writer who is not only innovating in what novels and "Australian" writing can do, but is genuinely changing history.

Content Warnings

nonistoni's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

belindapancake's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

bobbijopmh's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

A moving story of finding home, connection and country.

It's a really captivating plot and is written across multiple perspectives and timelines. At first, I found this a little jarring, switching between modern-day August & the 1900s; but the perspective switching really adds to the pacing of the story and sort of helps to gradually feed the reader the right emotions and information at the right points in the main narrative.

This book deals with some painful themes, but Tara June Winch's writing is beautiful and emotive. I'd definitely classify this as an #OwnVoices read, and I really loved the inclusion of Wiradjuri language as central to the book. I also really enjoyed the connection to the land and the environment that was so central to the plot.

The only, singular reason this was not a five-star book for me was the way it ends. I would have liked it to go on just a little longer, but I loved it regardless.

Content Warnings

egg_cup's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A tale of grief, trauma, and the healing power of family and connection to culture - the range of this book and it's ability to capture the way the past trickles down into the present results in a heartwrenching narrative. The characters feel candid and authentic, and the masterful way Tara weaves together three separate stories from three different time periods creates a rich tale of history and healing. This is a story that is sure to stay with anyone who reads it long after the last page has been turned.

Content Warnings

demo's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

emilyrainsford's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

graceesix's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book needs to be the next book you read, especially for Australians. It discusses the loss of connection to culture by Australia's Indigenous people after the invasion by British colonists. The devastating impact of the stolen generations and how it contributed to the loss of language, practices, traditions and people throughout Australia's terrible and bloody history. Winch finishes the book with a dictionary from the Wiradjuri language, and provides resources for how readers can further learn about Australia's Indigenous land and cultures.

This land was stolen and never ceded. Always was, always will be.

Content Warnings

More...