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Lost River: Four Albums
Ruth Joiner's short life has not run smoothly: opportunities have fallen through the cracks at every turn. The exception is creating her daughter, Dewi, and when we meet these two at the end of Ruth's life it is Ruth's calm demeanour and care that makes us confident that Dewi's future will be happier and carry more opportunity and joy. Orphaned in Bali and raised by her adoptive parents in the Australian desert, as a young woman Ruth escaped to the small town of Lost River. Her life has been marked by hardship, heartbreak, and loss, and defined by racism, illness, and her relationships with an enigmatic man named David and her young daughter Dewi. Yet against all odds, she ultimately finds peace with her family, her past, and herself. Set in Western Australia, Lost River: Four Albums is a novella of dislocation and loss, and continues Simone Lazaroo's interest in connections between Australian and South-East Asian lives.
308 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2016
I’ve read two novels by Simone Lazaroo: The Travel Writer (2006), and Sustenance (2010) but Lost River, four albums is a departure from her previous sensuous style. Sustenance in particular was a celebration of colour, texture and aroma, but this new novel has a more sobering palette.
It’s appropriate, considering its subject matter. The ironically named Ruth Joiner (who is very much the outsider) has terminal cancer. She is a single mother of a twelve-year-old daughter, and she has no family other than the judgemental missionary couple who adopted her from a Balinese orphanage. She ran away from them when she was seventeen. She doesn’t miss these absent parents at all.
But the damage Grace and Fred Joiner have done to her identity and to her sense of self-esteem is profound. When the novel opens we learn that David – the man with whom she had a fleeting relationship when she was at her most vulnerable – had left her, telling her that he would be gone just a short while. Her daughter Dewi – not yet aware of the seriousness of her mother’s condition – wants to know more about him. Ruth conceives the idea of using four photo albums salvaged from the Op Shop where she works, with the few photos she has, as a record for her daughter.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/08/02/lo...
It’s appropriate, considering its subject matter. The ironically named Ruth Joiner (who is very much the outsider) has terminal cancer. She is a single mother of a twelve-year-old daughter, and she has no family other than the judgemental missionary couple who adopted her from a Balinese orphanage. She ran away from them when she was seventeen. She doesn’t miss these absent parents at all.
But the damage Grace and Fred Joiner have done to her identity and to her sense of self-esteem is profound. When the novel opens we learn that David – the man with whom she had a fleeting relationship when she was at her most vulnerable – had left her, telling her that he would be gone just a short while. Her daughter Dewi – not yet aware of the seriousness of her mother’s condition – wants to know more about him. Ruth conceives the idea of using four photo albums salvaged from the Op Shop where she works, with the few photos she has, as a record for her daughter.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/08/02/lo...
January 3, 2016
A new favourite and one of the most amazing books I've read in the last 2 years. utterly brilliant and evocative writing throughout. This is book is one of those stories that not only allows you to meet (and conversely know) all characters depicted, but it also allows you to feel and experience all the characters are going through. Truly wonderful.
August 22, 2016
Beautiful story, touching and sad...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews