Review: An Epic Australian Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 18, 2014
I knew next to nothing about Australian history when I started Ryn Shell’s books. She does an excellent job of immersing the reader in a different time and place and of communicating a sense of history through the lives of ordinary people, in this case the lives of 2 brothers and their cousin. This is a coming of age story as well as a romance and crime drama, set in the Australian outback of the 1950s, a time of upheaval and unrest between Australia’s aboriginal people and European settlers.  It is told through the eyes of 2 Aboriginal boys and their white cousin, all of whom are in some way dealing with issues of right and wrong, family loyalty, and how who they are is connected to the place they come from.There are echoes of both Edna Ferber’s “Giant” and John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” in this novel.  The sweeping scope, the themes of family disintegration and ill-fated, innocent people who are the victims of societal norms and prejudices reminded me of both Ferber and Steinbeck. Both “Giant” and “East of Eden” were made into movies, and this novel has many cinematic qualities as well.  Shell’s story has all of the drama of those novels, but set in a time and place that very few Americans know anything about.  Shell has created fascinating characters who compel you to want to read more. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series!