Beyond Duck River

by Angela Martin

Beyond Duck River Paperback

Paperback

Published January 1, 2001

About the author

Angela Martin was born in Sydney, Australia, grew up around Duck River and descends from a mixed ancestry, Sydney Aboriginal and British. She left school at 14, joined the Navy at 18 and later returned to her education, graduating with a BA from the Australian National University and an advanced degree in Education from the University of Cammara. Studies in fine art, philosophy and sociology followed at the University of Sydney. She went on to work in the media, education and arts administration. She is now an arts educator at the Arts Gallery of New South Wales. Angela's travels have taken her from outback Australia to Russia, Scandinavia and Europe and on a 100 kilometer journey in a dugout canoe down the Ramu River in Papua New Guinea.

Reviews

[Claire Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

(audio book) This book made me laugh,cry and get goosebumps. Very well written. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a family saga following three generations of a Sydney family as they negotiate their lives stretching from the First World War to the Second World War. This family also have aboriginal ancestors and so they have to deal with their prejudice against them because of this. This book is #ownvoices for Ellen as the author also has British and Sydney Aboriginal ancestors. As I listened to it on audiobook I was unable to check the spellings or the details so I do apologise if I get anything wrong.

I really liked this book. I would not have come across it in any other place but on my Australian library app and I'm so glad I did. This book follows Alice, Hazel and Ellen, along with looking at Hazel Junior, otherwise known as Mini (short for Mini Hazel), as they watch their fathers, husbands and brothers go to war and they have to deal with the consequences, whether they are death, injury or PTSD. This book really looks at the impact of war, not just on the returning men, but also on their families as well. Alice trying to keep her family together even as her injured husband attacks her in the midst of one of his flashbacks was admirable even though you just wanted her to leave. Hazel's complete fear of the welfare taking her children away, not without very good reason, gave me a lump in my throat and Ellen trying to find out where she came from was wonderful to see. These three women were all very different characters and you could see how they developed as people through their surroundings and how they were brought up. I loved seeing how everything changed in the country and the family itself.

This book was continually moving, alternating between funny and tragic but a heartwarming family story is at the centre of it all and I am tempted to get the paperback version of this book, simply so I can read it and really take it in. 4.5 stars!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In hindsight, this was an interesting book about war and identity. While reading it, though, it feels more like a sweeping family saga that doesn't particularly build towards anything except the future. It follows Hazel, a girl whose father returned from WWI with PTSD which manifested in alcoholism and violence. As Hazel grows, her brother and husband goes off to WWII, and eventually her sons enlist to fight in Vietnam. So the war theme is pretty central.

The identity theme comes in hard at the end. There are glimpses early in the book that Hazel's family is Aboriginal but passing as white in the community. We see bits and pieces of Hazel staying out of the sun and avoiding a new doctor who she worries will report her family to Child Welfare and take her children away. And Hazel's daughter, Ellen, eventually uncovers the family history and embraces her Aboriginality. But this felt rushed at the end. I think it would have worked better as a more central theme that is more closely embedded in the narrative from the beginning.

This is really a 2.5 star read for me - an important story and probably very true to life for many people, but just not really my style.

[Eileen Humphreys]

A great listen that sends you through a roller coaster of emotions: sadness, anger, amusement. The central theme is three generations of women, and their identity as decendants from Australia's First Nations People, and the fear of having their children taken away. It is also a examination of war and the effects WW1, WW2 and the Vietnam War has on the men in their lives. It is set in Sydney during the 1900s, and I highly recommend this book, as it tackles racism, and the profound effects of war in an unputdownable family saga.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the era of assimiliation,the multi-generational family of this story is Aboriginal. The mother has feared 'the welfare' taking her children ever since they were born, and the possibilities of forced removal haunt her every action. Protection is maintained through denial whilst a parallel story, that of the father, a returned WW1 soldier haunted by the loss of mates in battle, runs along side of it. He drinks and bashes his wife and children. It sounds like a hopeless negative story yet it is infused with humour and resilience, and a lyrical depiction of the Australian bush.

[Jen Roe · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a sad story