This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn't need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain. The rules are:
- Link the books together in any way you like.
- Provide a link in your post to the meme at Books Are My Favourite and Best.
- Share these rules in your post.
- Paste the link to your post in the comments on Kate's post and/or the Linky Tool on that post.
- Invite your blog readers to join in and paste their links in the comments and/or the Linky Tool.
- Share your post on Twitter using the #6Degrees hashtag.
- Be nice! Visit and comment on other posts and/or retweet other #6Degrees posts.
This month's starting book was After Story by Larissa Behrendt -Ambitious and engrossing, After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces between. We can be ready to listen, but are we ready to hear?
Since this was a book that had been on my TBR list for a while, I decided to read it before this month's #6Degrees post. I'm so glad I did, I listened to the audiobook which is narrated wonderfully by Tamala Shelton & Shari Sebbens. This was a quiet story that had a lot to say and I enjoyed my time spent with Jasmine and her mother Della.
I have gone with the theme of Indigenous authors and stories, these are a few of the ones I have read and learned so much about our hidden history, there are so many more stories I've yet to read and learn from.
Dirrayawadha: Rise Up by Anita Heiss - set in Bathurst NSW, Australian Frontier Wars of the 1820s - Anita Heiss is breathing new life into the Australian historical epic. Dirrayawadha (Rise Up) shows the resistance leader Windradyne as the remarkable figure he was and surrounds him with fascinating figures otherwise lost to history. With irresistible imagination and verve, as well as a deep desire for truth telling, Anita Heiss's novels are re-peopling our past.
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams by Anita Heiss - set in Gundagai, 1852 - Set on timeless Wiradyuri country, where the life-giving waters of the rivers can make or break dreams, and based on devastating true events, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams) is an epic story of love, loss and belonging.
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss - set in Cowra, 1944 - 5 August, 1944: Over 1000 Japanese soldiers attempt to break out of the No. 12 Prisoner of War compound on the fringes of Cowra. In the carnage, hundreds are killed, many are recaptured and imprisoned, and some take their own lives rather than suffer the humiliation of ongoing defeat. But one soldier, Hiroshi, determined to avoid either fate, manages to escape. A story about a love that transcends all boundaries.
The White Girl by Tony Birch - set 1960s - In The White Girl, Miles Franklin Award-nominated author Tony Birch illuminates Australia's devastating post-colonial past--notably the government's racist policy of separating Indigenous children from their families, known today as the Stolen Generations--and introduces a tight-knit group of charming, inspiring characters who remind us of our shared humanity, and that kindness, hope, and love have no limits.
The Yield by Tara June Winch - Profoundly moving and exquisitely written, Tara June Winch's The Yield is the story of a people and a culture dispossessed. But it is as much a celebration of what was and what endures, and a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling and identity.
Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman - The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all. This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history.
So there is my chain for September, Australian history at its best and worst.
October's starting book is Colm Tóibín's Long Island which I haven't read but I'll take a look at.
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