August #bookaweek – work has been crazy busy, and I haven’t had as much time to read, but there were two books I absolutely loved this month, both by Australian authors. Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko and The Beast’s Garden by Kate Forsyth are both important, compelling, heartbreaking reads that I got so caught up in – I was listening to the audiobooks mostly, and couldn’t wait to have to walk to the office each morning so I could continue these brilliant, warm-hearted, serious yet entertaining reads.
52 of 90 – Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko
I loved Melissa Lucashenko’s Miles Franklin Award-winning Too Much Lip, and her earlier novel Mullumbimby is wonderful too. Set in Bundjalung Country in northern New South Wales, it’s a story of home and belonging, of mothers and daughters, friends and lovers, violence and dispossession, the search for justice and equality, and the deep connection to Country felt by First Nations peoples. The writing is beautiful – you can feel the breeze in your hair, the grass underfoot, smell the bushland, hear the sounds of the storm and the rain on the roof, and picture so vividly the birds wheeling overhead as Jo opens up to the messages in nature she’s learning to see and feel. There are moments of bitterness and destructiveness, fury and conflict, alongside touches of humour, a lesson in truth, words from the Bundjalung language woven into the magic of the story, and a woman stronger than she ever imagined, discovering what sovereignty means to her, and how hard she’ll fight to protect her land, herself and her daughter. A hymn to the ancestors, it’s deeply touching, sometimes sad, always compelling, and the audiobook is beautifully narrated by Bunurong actor and writer Tasma Walton.
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53 of 90 – The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec came highly recommended, but I struggled with it a bit, and almost gave up a few times. The writing lacks the emotion and magic I’d hoped for, but by about halfway through the story became really compelling, so I’m glad I persevered. I loved the witchy elements, and if you love Tom Hiddleston you’ll probably love it, because he’s how I pictured the trickster god all the way through this . (It’s fascinating how wildly different reviews are… And how awful the old gods were…) And I do have her next book on my tbr-list, so over all I guess I liked it.
When a banished witch falls in love with legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.
“This fascinating novel approaches Norse mythology from a brand new perspective; here old villains are now heroes, and the motivations of gods, giants, and witches are rarely what they seem…Gornichec plumbs the depths of what we will endure for family, belonging, and meaning, and traces the limits of love, friendship, and vengeance.“ – Linnea Hartsuyker, author of The Half-Drowned King.
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54 of 90 – Another Day In the Colony by Chelsea Watego
I saw Chelsea Watego in conversation with Jackie Huggins and Larissa Behrendt at the Sydney Writers Festival, and looked forward to reading her book Another Day in the Colony. And it’s a confronting and eye opening, and heartbreaking and deeply moving, read.
“The debut essay collection of prolific writer and esteemed public intellectual Chelsea Watego, Another Day in the Colony examines the ongoing daily racism faced by First Nations peoples in so-called Australia. A Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman with over 20 years of experience working in Indigenous health, she expertly dismantles white colonial fictions, celebrates the power of community, and defines a future unlike anything the settlers could ever imagine. It’s an urgent, insightful and joyous collection…”
Although Chelsea wrote the book specifically for First Nations people, she conceded, with a wry smile, that it’s okay for non-Indigenous people to read it too.
“It’s about sharing stories for and about our communities, rather than the historical norm of outsiders writing about First Nations people,” Chelsea said. “That’s the goal of the book, it is to speak with Blackfullas about who we are and get us thinking about our location in this place in a different kind of way. It gives us all strength and power to be on our terms and not be required to perform, attend or be of service to the settlers, because that is exhausting.”
The audiobook is powerfully narrated by the author, and I hope the book will be read (or listened to) by many people. Truth-telling about our history is so important, and so desperately needed. It’s heartening to know that a reprint was ordered the day it went on sale, that it’s climbed sales charts this week off the back of Chelsea’s Melbourne Writers Festival appearances, and that last week it won People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year at the Queensland Literary Awards.
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55 – The Beast’s Garden by Kate Forsyth
Kate Forsyth’s The Beast’s Garden is a beautiful, moving and wonder-filled book. There are motifs from the faery tales Beauty and the Beast and gorgeous variant The Singing, Springing Lark sprinkled throughout, but it’s not a retelling – it’s an epic, brilliantly plotted historical novel set in Nazi Germany, which will break your heart, but also fill you with faith, gratitude and deep respect for those who stood against unspeakable evil at incredible personal cost. All but the main characters are real people, which makes it even more horrifying. Yet in the horror of what went on between late 1938 and the fall of Berlin in 1945, there is such bravery, such fierce love and such hope as ordinary people discovered how strong and courageous they could be. When Ava’s best friend is arrested and sent to a concentration camp, her father denounced and her city bombed, she joins the underground resistance, risking her life to help those in need, and try to stop Hitler. And when the Nazi she married to save her father, then fell in love with, is arrested and faces execution for treason, she sets off on an impossible quest to save him.
Full of suspense and intrigue, this is a gripping, page-turning story of the very worst in people, and the very best. The events are shocking (even worse than I’d imagined), and it’s devastating to see more evidence of how depraved some people can be when they have power over others. The characters are compelling, and amidst the bloodshed and betrayal there is also music and art, poetry and song, faery tales and nature, things they can cling to as their world turns dark, to try to retain their own humanity.
Kate is one of my favourite authors, and I bought this book ages ago, so I have no idea why I didn’t read it until now (well, apart from how many other books I’ve also bought, oops!). It was such a pleasure to remember I had it, and to submerge myself in the enchantment of her beautiful writing and masterful plotting. The audiobook is amazing too, narrated by actor Jennifer Vuletic, who is brilliant with characters and accents, and brings the haunting story of love and loyalty, freedom and fear, struggle and survival, so vividly to life.
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