Since his first book of short stories, Shadowboxing, was published in 2006, Tony Birch has established himself as one of Australia’s premier authors. His latest and third full-length novel, The White Girl, only serves to remind us of this fact.
Odette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. After her daughter disappeared and left her with her granddaughter Sissy to raise on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. When a new policeman arrives in town, determined to enforce the law, Odette must risk everything to save Sissy and protect everything she loves.
The novel takes an uncompromising look at a time when the White Australia Policy governed the country and among the various acts under it, was the denial of citizenship to Aboriginal people citizenship, instead placing them under the legal guardianship of a local Protector. For this reason alone, the book is important. In Australian schools we are taught about the first dispossession of land and Stolen Generation, but there is a failure to examine the everyday – to understand how the law classified an entire group of people as ‘native fauna’ and yet didn’t offer them the legal protections that we give animals. Birch’s novel does this, and more.
Despite it being set amid a terrible and shameful part of history, this is an uplifting novel. It is about the fact that people are kind to others when there is no benefit to themselves. It is about the fact that the love of family is so powerful, so strong, that it can move mountains and defy corrupt systems. In the words of Birch’s daughter Siobhan, who officially launched the book, it is about the fact that at a time in history when people were given legal licence to do awful things to Aboriginal people, not everyone did. It is a book about the purity of love between kin, and the solidarity between people that makes life not merely survivable but ultimately, enjoyable. In the author’s note at the book’s conclusion, Birch says “I would not presume to tell the story of any child left behind to deal with loss and the resultant trauma. What I do hope for this novel, is that the love and bravery conveyed by Odette and Sissy provides some understanding of the tenacity and love within the hearts of those who suffered the theft of their own blood.” Birch’s focus is on the fact that Odette will do everything to prevent what so many could not, and the story which emerges is thus one of strength and loyalty and love, and it is wonderful.
Birch’s writing style is truly engaging. It immediately draws the reader in, presenting the elements of the story in a way that makes them deeply riveting from the first pages. Moreover, he writes with a deft touch. The description of the fictitious Deane and the landscape surrounding it is evocative so as to really ground the reader in the setting, but it is not so focused on description that it distracts from the plot. It’s a balance that’s hard to strike, but Birch does so beautifully. Moreover, the connection to and appreciation for the land – despite the history of the mistreatment to which it has born witness, is conveyed perfectly through the eyes of Odette. It’s nice to have a book that has quite a bit of action in it with an older protagonist, but regardless of her age, Odette is one of the most compelling characters I’ve encountered in a while. More than compelling though, she feels real.
At the launch, Birch said that he drew his inspiration from the women in his life, and the realisation which struck him one day that these woman would unhesitatingly die for their children. This book is a thank you to the women who would not be moved when it came to the protection and wellbeing of those they love. I can only recommend that you go out and buy a copy of this book.
The White Girl is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Odette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. After her daughter disappeared and left her with her granddaughter Sissy to raise on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. When a new policeman arrives in town, determined to enforce the law, Odette must risk everything to save Sissy and protect everything she loves.
In The White Girl, Miles-Franklin-shortlisted author Tony Birch shines a spotlight on the 1960s and the devastating government policy of taking Indigenous children from their families.
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