Odette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. Raising her granddaughter Sissy on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing Aboriginal children from their communities. When the menacing Sergeant Lowe arrives in town, determined to fully enforce the law, any freedom that Odette and Sissy enjoy comes under grave threat. Odette must make an impossible choice to protect her family.

In The White Girl, Tony Birch has created memorable characters whose capacity for love and courage are a timely reminder of the endurance of the human spirit.

About the Author

Tony Birch is the author of Ghost River, which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing and Blood, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. He is also the author of Shadowboxing and three short story collections, Father’s Day, The Promise and Common People. In 2017 he was awarded the Patrick White Literary Award. Tony is a frequent contributor to ABC local and national radio and a regular guest at writers’ festivals. He lives in Melbourne and is a Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University.

review by Georgia Brough - digital content coordinator for Readings.

In post-World War II Deane, a rural Australian town, Odette Brown cares for her granddaughter Sissy. They live on Deane’s fringes, in a run-down mining area called Quarrytown, where the local police officer, soon to retire, often fails to enforce the Aborigines Protection Act. Odette and Sissy subsequently fly under the radar of the authorities, who still regularly, forcibly take fair-skinned Aboriginal children away from their families. But the arrival of a malicious new sergeant, intent on tightening the system’s grip on the few remaining Aboriginal families in the area, threatens to disrupt Odette and Sissy’s life together.

The overwhelming thought one has while reading award-winning author Tony Birch’s new novel is that there will be so many of these stories that have never been told; never heard. Thousands of families have been torn apart, and more children have been taken from parents than can most likely ever be fully known about, the stories of whom will often be lost and fade away. Odette and Sissy may be fictional characters, but their story, loss and heartache are very real. The White Girl’s major strength lies in its ability to cause the reader to not just pause and reflect, but to listen. It is essential that stories like these are heard.

Birch knows his story and characters well. His prose is beautifully handled and speaks with real, authentic pain but is restrained, never overbearing. The setting is evocative and deftly drawn; the symbolism of a rundown junkyard and a dying river flowing through the isolated town, a deep gash in the fractured landscape, is potent and elegant. The White Girl will resonate with readers, and it will rightly sit with them for a long time after the last page is turned.

https://www.readings.com.au/review/the-white-girl-by-tony-birch

i thought that the white girl was on some long and short lists for awards, but i cannot find any info about that now.. did i dream it? maybe - it certainly ought to be recognised in some of our awards

anyhow the review by georgia brough at readings is very much how i would describe it - it certainly stays with you

sending to jeniwren for the australasia wishlist tag

;)

wishlist tag going to jeniwren

happy reading
;)

I received a trunk load of mail today due to delays resulting from the many fires burning on the south coast of NSW. Among the many parcels this one arrived via a tag game and after many sleepless nights of worry this was a nice return to normality to contemplate the joy of a new book to read. Thankyou LadyIndigo for the little extras and your lovely note and Christmas card.

This novel has recently been nominated for The Miles Franklin Award 2020. Longlisted and although an enjoyable read I am not sure it will be the winner. I struggled to engage in the beginning but by halfway it became more interesting exploring themes of race, identity and the bonds of family.

Request from the OZVBB May 2020. Posting on my next town visit.

Got it! Thankyou, to be continued......

This was really good! I'll be sad to let this book go but this sort of literature is meant to be passed on...
Reserved for OZVBB :O)

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