Kim Scott (1) (1957–)

Compelling. I don't think I'm personally swept up by Scott's lyrical style (which, I think, at times overwhelms the substance) but this is a meaty novel which is rather engaging. Set over several decades in the 19th century, we follow the life of a young Aboriginal man and his encounters with white settlers in Australia, which range from sympathetic to abhorrent. A truthful, yearning novel, made all the more stronger coming from an actual Indigenous voice.

Don't get me wrong; I look forward to reading more of Scott's work. I think this novel is just a bit too 'popular lit' to draw me personally in. Recommended in general to those interested in the Indigenous experience, however.… (more)

Kim Scott's latest novel is about his own people and the country of his Noongar ancestors. Gerald Coolman is released from jail, intent on preserving the language and culture that he learned about from elders inside. He returns home to find moves afoot among the local community to return to Kepalup, a taboo place due to the massacre that occurred there.

Gerald's niece Tilly was raised white and only learned of her indigenous background when she heard from her dying father Jim, the elder who taught Gerald inside. She decides to go and seek out her long-lost family.

This is a story about a return to country under the most trying of circumstances. Not only are the Noongar haunted by the ghosts of their past, but the main characters have their own demons to deal with. For Gerald, it is the drug addiction that he is trying to shake by immersing himself in culture. Tilly has her own traumatic past to deal with, which follows her as she returns to Kepalup and encounters the white family that she was raised by.

Scott writes beautifully about the country that he grew up in and the casual racism that the Noongar encounter. The story is brutal in parts but is also amusing and hopeful.… (more)