Tim Turnbull's Reviews > Melbourne

I greatly enjoyed this vignette on Melbourne, written as a year the author experiences in the life of this city. Melbourne is a city that I too have called home for most of my life.

Although these series on Australian cities are not meant to be comprehensive histories, Sophie Cunningham is able to weave so much into this book on Melbourne that really does capture much of the social history of this place.

I especially liked the way that Sophie's career in publishing provides even greater insights into a city that has a rich literary history.

It was also refreshing to read a biography of Melbourne that properly represents the rich indigenous history of the Kulin nation. This book documents the tragic and rapid dispossession of these peoples by early european settlements that made little attempt at understanding their spiritual connection to the land and the harmony in which they were able to live in this often dry and harsh climate. That the book was written a short time after tragic fire and drought conditions greatly impacted Melbourne draws even more attention to these lessons.

Is this a parochial view? Of course it is. That is the point of this series on Australian cities written by the people who live and love these places and want to share their insights and experiences!