January 31, 2022
Australian writer Birch makes his U.S. debut with a sad yet heartening tale of cruelty and prejudice against Indigenous people. In the harsh landscape of 1960s Australia, Aboriginal people are denied citizenship and placed under the legal guardianship of a local protector. Odette Brown, who is Aboriginal, has been raising her 12-year-old granddaughter, Sissy, in the government district of Deane, to stop Sissy from being taken by the authorities. In chapters conveying flashbacks as well as current tensions, Birch implies that Sissy’s mother, Lila, who abandoned Sissy a year after giving birth, was raped by Sissy’s father, a white man named Joe Kane. Odette’s life takes a dramatic turn when she must undergo an operation in the capital, where Lila lives. She gets permission from the sheriff to travel, but doesn’t want to leave Sissy behind out of fear she’ll be taken by the brutal Kane family. So she makes the risky choice to disguise Sissy as a “white girl” after determining that it’s their only way out, and leaves with Sissy to find Lila and check into the hospital. With a brisk pace and lush prose, Birch breathes life into Odette’s wrenching and courageous search for her daughter and the hope of a better life for Sissy. Readers will feel the pull of this harrowing story.
April 26, 2019
Tony Birch’s latest novel tells the story of Odette Brown and her granddaughter Sissy, who live on the fringe of Deane, a fictional town situated between the mountains and the desert in post-WWII Australia. Few people remain in the old huts that housed workers of the now-defunct nearby quarry, and run-down Quarrytown is part of an Aboriginal reserve. However, the negligent local policeman, Officer Shea, doesn’t enforce the Aborigines Welfare Act. When Sergeant Lowe arrives to replace Officer Shea, he is determined to tighten control over Aboriginal people in the district. Under the Act, this puts Sissy at risk of being removed from her grandmother’s care. Odette must now break the law to keep her safe, while in the city, growing support for citizenship for Aboriginal people begins to destabilise the Act’s powers. Themes of Aboriginal rights, non-Indigenous male violence, post-war migration, family resilience and a dying river make The White Girl very relevant, and it would be suitable for inclusion on high school and university reading lists. With a uniquely Australian setting, a compelling narrative, malevolent antagonists and determined female protagonists, The White Girl will appeal to a wide audience. Readers will find it hard to put down.
Karen Wyld is a freelance writer and author