Mullumbimby in Aussie Readers

Aug 11, 2018 Kerry rated it really liked it

First one of Melissa Lucashenko's novels I have read and I certainly enjoyed it. Well written with a strong evocation of place. I am actually previewing it as a possible Year 11 text in nexts year's new QCE English syllabus. I think it would be a good choice. Enjoyed the strength of characterisation and the interesting portrayal of the connections between the old traditions and the modern lives of the indigenous characters. Definitely worth a read! ...more

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Dec 01, 2014 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2014, aww-2014

I'm not going to put anyone in suspense here. I loved this book. No, I loved this book.

One of the things I've tried to do with my reading for the Australian Women Writers' Challenge is to expand beyond the normal limits of my reading - which, for me, means picking up more non-speculative work, and especially trying to pick up works by Indigenous authors.

Side note: I'm finding myself staring at the cover of Mullumbimby as I'm typing this. The image of a bird's nest woven from barbed wire, but lin I'm not going to put anyone in suspense here. I loved this book. No, I loved this book.

One of the things I've tried to do with my reading for the Australian Women Writers' Challenge is to expand beyond the normal limits of my reading - which, for me, means picking up more non-speculative work, and especially trying to pick up works by Indigenous authors.

Side note: I'm finding myself staring at the cover of Mullumbimby as I'm typing this. The image of a bird's nest woven from barbed wire, but lined with soft feathers and leaves for the baby birds, is one of the strongest in the book. For me, that single image sums up many of the themes in the book: Jo's personal struggles as she fights to make her place on her own piece of land, her relationship with her daughter and with the man who comes into her life, Twoboy, and the greater battle Indigenous Australians fight for Native Title, the rights to the land that they believe is theirs by right and that was stolen from them.

Jo Breen is an incredible character. From the moment she steps foot onto the page she is living and breathing as she fights to establish her farm. Her love for the land, her daughter and her horses is so incredibly strong, aptly mirroring the strong ties that many Indigenous Australians feel to their native land.

Some reviewers have complained about the choice Lucashenko made to incorporate Bundjalung dialect into the book, but I felt that it served to give the story even more power. A glossary is provided at the back of the book for those who need it, but I found that Lucashenko's writing was almost always good enough to divine the meanings of words unknown to me simply by their context. It's possible that non-Australian writers may struggle slightly more with this, since both landscape and language could potentially both be unfamiliar. In particular, I believe that the use of dialect highlighted the fact that I, as a white Australian reader, was oftentimes being given a look into a world that both was and was not mine.

There are many extraordinarily powerful moments in this book. Jo as she works to maintain the cemetary, even as she returns exhausted from that work to wrestle returning her own land to health. The aforementioned bird's nest, and the things that Jo experiences in the bush, evidence of the ancient spiritual connections of her bloodline to the land. All of this works to highlight some of the separation that Jo feels to her own past, which mirrors the breaking of much of Indigenous Australia with the land.

There is heartbreak, and there is struggle and loss as Jo fights for her place in the world. But at the end, Mullumbimby also gives much hope. Lucashenko should be commended for the sensitive manner in which she deals with major issues relating to Indigenous Australia.

This is a book that I highly, highly recommend to anyone living within Australia, or with a desire to learn more about this country.
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Jul 09, 2019 Kim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cultural-australia, australian, fiction, australian-author, australian-women-writers, own, australian-fiction, ex-wishlist, 2019-read, owned

First Line:
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, reflected Jo, that a teenager armed with a Nikko pen is a pain in the fucking neck, and if it isn't then it fucken well oughta be...."

This book has the lot! Irreverent & Profane nods to Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Love between mother and child, romantic love, Incandescent Anger and Dark humour, Land and Lose, Culture and Language. And by Language I mean all sorts!
I'll be hanging onto this for my collection for the Bundjalung translations at ...more

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Aug 12, 2013 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: aus, library, 2015

3.5*

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Sep 27, 2022 Chip rated it it was ok

Shelves: wgong-library, dnf, a-b-listened, audible-own

I really wanted to delve into this book and get lost amongst its story and words. But unfortunately the words just dribbled by. The story couldn't hold my attention which was surprising because I know the area well and the author fascinates me. But my goodness, nothing happened! ...more

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