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Brittany
When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.
Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols – including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf – Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.
Ambitious and engrossing, After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces between. We can be ready to listen, but are we ready to hear?
Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols – including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf – Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.
Ambitious and engrossing, After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces between. We can be ready to listen, but are we ready to hear?
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 2021
234 people are currently reading
5171 people want to read
About the author
Larissa Behrendt
32 books163 followersLarissa is the author of three novels: Home, which won the 2002 David Unaipon Award and the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book; Legacy, which won the 2010 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing; and After Story. She has published numerous books on Indigenous legal issues; her most recent non-fiction book is Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling. She was awarded the 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year award and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year. Larissa wrote and directed the feature films, After the Apology and Innocence Betrayed and has written and produced several short films. In 2018 she won the Australian Directors’ Guild Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Feature and in 2020 the AACTA for Best Direction in Nonfiction Television. She is the host of Speaking Out on ABC radio and is Distinguished Professor at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 521 reviews
June 14, 2022
4.5*
After Story is an engrossing and thought-provoking read, which follows the physical and personal journeys of an Australian indigenous mother and daughter as they undertake a tour of the literary sites of England.
Legal Aid lawyer Jasmine ("Jazzy" to her mum) invites her mother, Della, to accompany her on an 11-day small group bus tour of the famous literary sites of England, after her original companion has to pull out for work reasons. It's been several years since Jasmine left the small NSW town where she grew up to pursue educational and career opportunities in Sydney. Della still lives in "Frog Hollow", the area of town more prone to flooding and inhabited by indigenous families, never having ventured out of Australia previously. Both Jasmine and Della are grieving, each in their own way, the deaths of Jasmine's father Jimmy and family matriarch, "Auntie" Elaine, the local wise woman and repository of family history and indigenous knowledge. They're also both permanently scarred by the abduction of Jasmine's elder sister, Brittany - then a 7-year-old - many years previously.
As they visit destinations including Jane Austen's one time home in Chawton, Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon and the home of the Brontë sisters in Yorkshire, Jasmine and Della each undergo a sort of personal epiphany. Given the opportunity to spend time alone with her mother, Jasmine gains a greater understanding of the lifelong demons Della has faced, and also reconciles the demands of her job with her dreams as an educated articulate woman of indigenous background. Meanwhile, Della reflects on her past, on her turbulent relationships with Jimmy, her sister Kiki and each of her surviving daughters. Both find fascinating parallels between the literary history they're discovering during the tour and the stories and wisdom of their own indigenous ancestry. Auntie Elaine looms as an important presence throughout the narrative, holding the family together, nurturing Jasmine's love of books and learning, and storing a vast core of historical and cultural information.
Contemporaneously with their tour a young girl, Shona Lindsay, is abducted during a family picnic on Hamstead Heath, the media coverage preoccupying Della in particular, given the parallels with her own daughter Brittany's disappearance. The story unfolds over several days, prompting self-reflection and shared reminiscences between mother and daughter, a redemptive journey that bodes well for the family's future happiness once the women return home.
Light relief is provided by the women's interractions and growing relationships with other members of their tour party, and the various discussions and reflections prompted by the places they visit together.
I found After Story a beguiling and engrossing read. On a superficial level, it's an entertaining tale of a mother and daughter sharing accommodation, alternately bonding and getting on each other's nerves while traveling. I certainly found the "armchair travel" element enjoyable and inspiring for future travel plans. However, the deeper themes of personal reflection, collective history, relationships, regret and recovery raised this out of the "women's fiction" genre and into something more profound and challenging.
I'd recommend After Story to any reader who's interested in women's stories and lived experience, Australian indigenous perspectives, past and present, and/or the history of English literature since Tudor times.
Trigger warnings: depictions of direct and institutional racism, references to child abuse and neglect, references to child sexual abuse, child abduction and murder (non graphic).
After Story is an engrossing and thought-provoking read, which follows the physical and personal journeys of an Australian indigenous mother and daughter as they undertake a tour of the literary sites of England.
Legal Aid lawyer Jasmine ("Jazzy" to her mum) invites her mother, Della, to accompany her on an 11-day small group bus tour of the famous literary sites of England, after her original companion has to pull out for work reasons. It's been several years since Jasmine left the small NSW town where she grew up to pursue educational and career opportunities in Sydney. Della still lives in "Frog Hollow", the area of town more prone to flooding and inhabited by indigenous families, never having ventured out of Australia previously. Both Jasmine and Della are grieving, each in their own way, the deaths of Jasmine's father Jimmy and family matriarch, "Auntie" Elaine, the local wise woman and repository of family history and indigenous knowledge. They're also both permanently scarred by the abduction of Jasmine's elder sister, Brittany - then a 7-year-old - many years previously.
As they visit destinations including Jane Austen's one time home in Chawton, Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon and the home of the Brontë sisters in Yorkshire, Jasmine and Della each undergo a sort of personal epiphany. Given the opportunity to spend time alone with her mother, Jasmine gains a greater understanding of the lifelong demons Della has faced, and also reconciles the demands of her job with her dreams as an educated articulate woman of indigenous background. Meanwhile, Della reflects on her past, on her turbulent relationships with Jimmy, her sister Kiki and each of her surviving daughters. Both find fascinating parallels between the literary history they're discovering during the tour and the stories and wisdom of their own indigenous ancestry. Auntie Elaine looms as an important presence throughout the narrative, holding the family together, nurturing Jasmine's love of books and learning, and storing a vast core of historical and cultural information.
Contemporaneously with their tour a young girl, Shona Lindsay, is abducted during a family picnic on Hamstead Heath, the media coverage preoccupying Della in particular, given the parallels with her own daughter Brittany's disappearance. The story unfolds over several days, prompting self-reflection and shared reminiscences between mother and daughter, a redemptive journey that bodes well for the family's future happiness once the women return home.
Light relief is provided by the women's interractions and growing relationships with other members of their tour party, and the various discussions and reflections prompted by the places they visit together.
I found After Story a beguiling and engrossing read. On a superficial level, it's an entertaining tale of a mother and daughter sharing accommodation, alternately bonding and getting on each other's nerves while traveling. I certainly found the "armchair travel" element enjoyable and inspiring for future travel plans. However, the deeper themes of personal reflection, collective history, relationships, regret and recovery raised this out of the "women's fiction" genre and into something more profound and challenging.
I'd recommend After Story to any reader who's interested in women's stories and lived experience, Australian indigenous perspectives, past and present, and/or the history of English literature since Tudor times.
Trigger warnings: depictions of direct and institutional racism, references to child abuse and neglect, references to child sexual abuse, child abduction and murder (non graphic).
December 14, 2021
A literary tour of England forms the structure for Larissa Behrendt's excellent novel, as young Indigenous Australian lawyer, Jasmine, and her much more traditional mother, Della, spend ten days travelling together, sharing the same room, visiting sites associated with writers like Dickens, Conan Doyle, Hardy, Woolf, Shakespeare and the Brontes.
Behrendt's choice of authors and sites is clever as each one raises issues that are acutely alive in Australia now. For instance, Dickens leads to thinking and discussion of poverty and hardship, and the British Museum's collection of the bodily remains of Indigenous people takes us to the heart of racist colonialist behaviours. We've just had a very moving event in south Australia in which the remains of more than 100 Aboriginal people, part of the collection of 4600 remains held by the south Australian Museum have been reburied with full rites in specially dedicated ground. Ive pasted in links that cover this story at the bottom of my review.
The relationship between mother and daughter is strained; they've been estranged for some time. Gradually the stories emerge that have led both women to be where they are in their very different lives. The pivotal event is the disappearance of Della's oldest daughter, Brittany, when she was seven. Bit by bit the events around Brittany's disappearance, its consequences, and the extended Indigenous family relationships take shape.
At the end of each day of the tour, Della and Jasmine reflect on what they saw that day. Della's responses are emotional, triggering memories of life in the community she loves and values as well as memories of Brittany's disappearance. A crisis comes when a young white girl is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, prompting rapid response from the police in stark contrast to what happened when Brittany disappeared.
Jasmine's are mostly intellectual as she and her companions talk about the writers they love.
Mother and daughter spend time with different members of the tour group during the days, and as they hear and see different things we get a richer view of the group members than the initial quick impressions give us. Despite not spending much time together, they are acutely aware of each other. Behrendt has given us a poignant picture of intergenerational different, of mother wishing she could be closer to her daughter, daughter embarrassed by her mother, concerned for her wanting to love her.
Despite the themes of racism, and trauma, Behrendt has kept a mostly light tone. There's quite a bit of humour in the group interactions and much worldly wisdom from Aunty Elaine back home.
It's a quite remarkable achievement.
Here are two links for the Kaurna repatriation ceremony I mentioned in my review:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-0...
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2...
and a video
https://aiatsis.gov.au/presentation/k...
Behrendt's choice of authors and sites is clever as each one raises issues that are acutely alive in Australia now. For instance, Dickens leads to thinking and discussion of poverty and hardship, and the British Museum's collection of the bodily remains of Indigenous people takes us to the heart of racist colonialist behaviours. We've just had a very moving event in south Australia in which the remains of more than 100 Aboriginal people, part of the collection of 4600 remains held by the south Australian Museum have been reburied with full rites in specially dedicated ground. Ive pasted in links that cover this story at the bottom of my review.
The relationship between mother and daughter is strained; they've been estranged for some time. Gradually the stories emerge that have led both women to be where they are in their very different lives. The pivotal event is the disappearance of Della's oldest daughter, Brittany, when she was seven. Bit by bit the events around Brittany's disappearance, its consequences, and the extended Indigenous family relationships take shape.
At the end of each day of the tour, Della and Jasmine reflect on what they saw that day. Della's responses are emotional, triggering memories of life in the community she loves and values as well as memories of Brittany's disappearance. A crisis comes when a young white girl is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, prompting rapid response from the police in stark contrast to what happened when Brittany disappeared.
Jasmine's are mostly intellectual as she and her companions talk about the writers they love.
Mother and daughter spend time with different members of the tour group during the days, and as they hear and see different things we get a richer view of the group members than the initial quick impressions give us. Despite not spending much time together, they are acutely aware of each other. Behrendt has given us a poignant picture of intergenerational different, of mother wishing she could be closer to her daughter, daughter embarrassed by her mother, concerned for her wanting to love her.
Despite the themes of racism, and trauma, Behrendt has kept a mostly light tone. There's quite a bit of humour in the group interactions and much worldly wisdom from Aunty Elaine back home.
It's a quite remarkable achievement.
Here are two links for the Kaurna repatriation ceremony I mentioned in my review:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-0...
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2...
and a video
https://aiatsis.gov.au/presentation/k...
June 22, 2021
This is a beautiful book, with carefully drawn characters and so many different storylines running through the chapters. It's about mothers and daughters, love and loss, how we value different stories and different kinds of knowledge. And it's about how you carry on after something unbearable happens, about justice and blame, and the meaning of home.
The structure of the book, with its alternating voices, felt very natural and shared the story from the viewpoint of two very different narrators, Nella and Jasmine, each with their own experiences and worldviews. This is a story that was easy to read but has stayed with me, prompting me to reflect on my own assumptions and biases.
I loved it, and will be recommending it the readers in my life, including my own mum.
(I received a copy of this book through the James Bennett advanced reading copies program, but was under no obligation to review it)
The structure of the book, with its alternating voices, felt very natural and shared the story from the viewpoint of two very different narrators, Nella and Jasmine, each with their own experiences and worldviews. This is a story that was easy to read but has stayed with me, prompting me to reflect on my own assumptions and biases.
I loved it, and will be recommending it the readers in my life, including my own mum.
(I received a copy of this book through the James Bennett advanced reading copies program, but was under no obligation to review it)
August 11, 2021
As a bookish Aboriginal woman myself this book appealed to me a lot. Dual perspectives on the same experience is *chefs kiss* too. I loved the mother both in personality and the way she was crafted through prose and her responses to the literary tour. But I thought the daughter was developed a bit less fully and sometimes she was used to lecture, coming across flat and not just in a way that befitted her shy personality. It was overall endearing and a gentle reminder that our mothers have rich inner worlds of their own.
August 1, 2021
The third of Larissa Behrendt's novels, AFTER STORY follows the theme of family in all is complexities. Told via story of a literary tour of England, with Aboriginal themes throughout, there is something for every reader of Australian literature.
April 20, 2023
Larissa Behrendt wrote an enjoyable novel that uncannily mixes the story of an Aboriginal family from a small town in Australia with a trip to the UK to visit famous writers' homes.
Indigenous layer Jasmine asks her mum, Della, to accompany her on a trip to visit revered British writers' sites. It's Della's first time abroad.
Their relationship is relatively frayed due to spoken and particularly unspoken truths.
The trip is a great opportunity for the two to strengthen their relationship and to come to some realisations.
Despite its heavy themes such as child abuse, child murder, trauma, racism, After Story is a story of rebirth, survival and appreciating what you have. My heart was full.
I also enjoyed the virtual trip around the sites where famous writers lived. I hope one day I'll get to see them in person, although they sound like they're visited by too many tourists.
Indigenous layer Jasmine asks her mum, Della, to accompany her on a trip to visit revered British writers' sites. It's Della's first time abroad.
Their relationship is relatively frayed due to spoken and particularly unspoken truths.
The trip is a great opportunity for the two to strengthen their relationship and to come to some realisations.
Despite its heavy themes such as child abuse, child murder, trauma, racism, After Story is a story of rebirth, survival and appreciating what you have. My heart was full.
I also enjoyed the virtual trip around the sites where famous writers lived. I hope one day I'll get to see them in person, although they sound like they're visited by too many tourists.
June 1, 2022
4 stars--I really liked this quiet, emotional book.
First off, don't let this book's description of missing children deceive you--this is not a thriller. There's not a plot. Instead, this is a quiet novel about a literary tour (there's lots of discussion of English writers), a mother, and a daughter. The chapters read almost like essays at times. I love English literature and devoured each chapter as Della and Jasmine traveled through the UK.
The book touches on generational trauma, racism, sisterhood and motherhood, and the purpose of stories in our lives. I found it sweetly touching, and I adored the characters.
First off, don't let this book's description of missing children deceive you--this is not a thriller. There's not a plot. Instead, this is a quiet novel about a literary tour (there's lots of discussion of English writers), a mother, and a daughter. The chapters read almost like essays at times. I love English literature and devoured each chapter as Della and Jasmine traveled through the UK.
The book touches on generational trauma, racism, sisterhood and motherhood, and the purpose of stories in our lives. I found it sweetly touching, and I adored the characters.
May 29, 2022
A gentle and heartwarming story about the mother/daughter relationship and the power of storytelling. But although I say 'gentle', be warned there's quite a bit of darkness in there too - with themes of sexual abuse and child abduction. I loved the narration, with one of my favourite indigenous actors performing the mother's chapters.
When her friend pulls out of their planned literary tour of England, young indigenous lawyer Jasmine invites her mother along instead. Della has never really travelled before and doesn't know much about English literature, but she's very keen for the opportunity to spend some time with her youngest daughter. Soon they've arrived in London to meet the rest of the group and begin their tour. The group is about what you'd expect; some members younger, some older, and one or two overbearing, others meek. What they all have in common is a love of the literary greats such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and the Brontes. Della's heard of them, of course, but is not as familiar with their works. To help get something out of the tour she decides to make notes - not so much a diary as a collection of facts and thoughts - things that strike her as interesting or important about the places or the people.
Soon after their arrival, a big, urgent story swamps the media. A young girl has been abducted from Hampstead Heath. Her parents are distraught and the police are working hard to find young Shona. The story has special significance for Della and Jasmine, as it stirs up memories and emotions of the disappearance of their own family member when Jasmine was just 3 years old. Della is desperate to follow the news story about Shona, while Jasmine is pretty desperate to shield her from it.
Told in alternating chapters, this story covers a lot of ground. There's the tour that's happening in the present, with lots of information about the writers, but there's also thoughts and memories of the backstory - Della's upbringing, early marriage and the loss of Brittany, then how it affected the family. But there are also ruminations about the legal system, racism, and memories of their loved and respected elder, Aunty Eileen, who was a great teller of their cultural stories. After one of the group members takes in interest in the cultural stories, Della's note-taking morphs into something quite different and sets her on a path towards an important undertaking that she can share with Jasmine when they return to Australia.
This is the first time I've read indigenous author Larissa Behrendt, and I really enjoyed it. She seems to have a clear-eyed view of what she wants to say, and in this novel has delivered it in an entertaining and thought-provoking way. I'd never considered doing this type of literary tourism, but now I kind of want to! Highly recommended.
Free on Audible.
When her friend pulls out of their planned literary tour of England, young indigenous lawyer Jasmine invites her mother along instead. Della has never really travelled before and doesn't know much about English literature, but she's very keen for the opportunity to spend some time with her youngest daughter. Soon they've arrived in London to meet the rest of the group and begin their tour. The group is about what you'd expect; some members younger, some older, and one or two overbearing, others meek. What they all have in common is a love of the literary greats such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and the Brontes. Della's heard of them, of course, but is not as familiar with their works. To help get something out of the tour she decides to make notes - not so much a diary as a collection of facts and thoughts - things that strike her as interesting or important about the places or the people.
Soon after their arrival, a big, urgent story swamps the media. A young girl has been abducted from Hampstead Heath. Her parents are distraught and the police are working hard to find young Shona. The story has special significance for Della and Jasmine, as it stirs up memories and emotions of the disappearance of their own family member when Jasmine was just 3 years old. Della is desperate to follow the news story about Shona, while Jasmine is pretty desperate to shield her from it.
Told in alternating chapters, this story covers a lot of ground. There's the tour that's happening in the present, with lots of information about the writers, but there's also thoughts and memories of the backstory - Della's upbringing, early marriage and the loss of Brittany, then how it affected the family. But there are also ruminations about the legal system, racism, and memories of their loved and respected elder, Aunty Eileen, who was a great teller of their cultural stories. After one of the group members takes in interest in the cultural stories, Della's note-taking morphs into something quite different and sets her on a path towards an important undertaking that she can share with Jasmine when they return to Australia.
This is the first time I've read indigenous author Larissa Behrendt, and I really enjoyed it. She seems to have a clear-eyed view of what she wants to say, and in this novel has delivered it in an entertaining and thought-provoking way. I'd never considered doing this type of literary tourism, but now I kind of want to! Highly recommended.
Free on Audible.
November 25, 2021
"It’s the best kind of fantasy, the most irresistible – to create a world, one that other people visit, that is shaped the way you want it to be. Don’t we all have an imaginary place we escape off to as we fall asleep or drift off into daydream, a place where life is better, people are kinder and we are a better version of ourselves?"
Well, this was a gem. The story is told through alternating chapters describing the same day's events on a literary tour of England, our POV characters are a mother and her adult daughter, both of whose lives have been shaped by a terrible crime. Behrendt gives us two very different voices and perspectives, and the book fiercely commits to each perspective, pushing the reader into spaces of empathy and ambiguity, as well as some truths which are not ambiguous at all. Jasmine, our younger protagonist, is troubled by one of her cases, broadening the conversation in the book about crime and punishment, trauma and recovery, blame and redemption.
The book is not just about trauma though - it is fundamentally about connection, and how a shift of place and perspective can facilitate growth. One of my favourite aspects of the novel was the growing cohesion of the tour group. Behrendt captures perfectly the ways that groups bond and change each other. Despite the subject matter, the book brims with light and humour, with compassion and hope. Both narrators draw lessons from the lives of the authors - Dickens, Woolf, Sackville-West, Shakespeare, Hardy, Austen and the Brontes. Somehow this positions our contemporary miseries as part of history, and societies that both change and repeat the same patterns. That Jasmine and her mum often view these lives differently add to ways we connect to people and to stories around what we need, and this is presented without a skerrick of cynicism (as distinct from critique).
All of this could be very on the nose - partly I'm really in admiration/awe of how Behrendt never slides into contrived territory. Her professor felt a little like a collection of particularly eye-rolling "old white man" opinions at first, but the book contextualises and broadens that characterisation as it weaves on.
This is going to be one of my top recommendations of the year, I can tell.
Well, this was a gem. The story is told through alternating chapters describing the same day's events on a literary tour of England, our POV characters are a mother and her adult daughter, both of whose lives have been shaped by a terrible crime. Behrendt gives us two very different voices and perspectives, and the book fiercely commits to each perspective, pushing the reader into spaces of empathy and ambiguity, as well as some truths which are not ambiguous at all. Jasmine, our younger protagonist, is troubled by one of her cases, broadening the conversation in the book about crime and punishment, trauma and recovery, blame and redemption.
The book is not just about trauma though - it is fundamentally about connection, and how a shift of place and perspective can facilitate growth. One of my favourite aspects of the novel was the growing cohesion of the tour group. Behrendt captures perfectly the ways that groups bond and change each other. Despite the subject matter, the book brims with light and humour, with compassion and hope. Both narrators draw lessons from the lives of the authors - Dickens, Woolf, Sackville-West, Shakespeare, Hardy, Austen and the Brontes. Somehow this positions our contemporary miseries as part of history, and societies that both change and repeat the same patterns. That Jasmine and her mum often view these lives differently add to ways we connect to people and to stories around what we need, and this is presented without a skerrick of cynicism (as distinct from critique).
All of this could be very on the nose - partly I'm really in admiration/awe of how Behrendt never slides into contrived territory. Her professor felt a little like a collection of particularly eye-rolling "old white man" opinions at first, but the book contextualises and broadens that characterisation as it weaves on.
This is going to be one of my top recommendations of the year, I can tell.
August 18, 2021
3.5 I think.
I REALLY liked the end quarter. And I really liked Jasmine and Della as characters and learning about their lives and the intersection of Indigenous culture and the British Invasion. But the author walking tour I could’ve done without. I also don’t know how I feel about the inclusion of Fiona and calling her a monster, I think some of the language around mental illness was problematic. I wanted more Della and Jasmine and their stories. I think it showed intergenerational trauma well.
I REALLY liked the end quarter. And I really liked Jasmine and Della as characters and learning about their lives and the intersection of Indigenous culture and the British Invasion. But the author walking tour I could’ve done without. I also don’t know how I feel about the inclusion of Fiona and calling her a monster, I think some of the language around mental illness was problematic. I wanted more Della and Jasmine and their stories. I think it showed intergenerational trauma well.
June 24, 2022
I'd peg it as YA -the writing, Eng.Lit for dummies disguised as a literary tour,the simplistic explanations of everything from prejudice to history ,the cardboard charachters-but the author also throws in a child's dissapearance and past trauma,so you end up not knowing what the aim or target audience is.
What I do know is that I'm astonished at the good reviews.
What I do know is that I'm astonished at the good reviews.
August 12, 2021
Larissa Behrendt began her writing career in non-fiction, publishing texts that relate to her work as a lawyer and advocate for Indigenous people, but her most recent non-fiction was the ground-breaking Finding Eliza, Power and colonial storytelling (2016, see my review). She is also the author of three novels: Home (2004, see my review); Legacy (2009, see my review) and now After Story (2021).
Ostensibly a mother-daughter story about literary travel in the UK, After Story is much more than that.
When Jasmine's plans for a trip with her BFF Bex fall through, she asks her mother Della to come with her instead, and the story is narrated in alternating chapters by these two. They don't have a great relationship: Della stayed in her home town all her life while Jasmine was on the bus to Sydney as soon as she received an early offer to study law. The family dynamics are complicated by the abduction of Jasmine's seven-year-old sister Brittany from their bedroom 25 years ago when Jasmine was only three. She has no memory of her family before this tragedy, and she has only ever known her mother as traumatised by it. Jasmine has coped with the gossip and innuendo by being diligent at school and unobtrusive, always trying to be 'good' to disprove the stereotypes of Aborigines that cripple her spirit, while her sister Leigh-Anne confronts racism head-on.
Not long before the trip takes place, Della has suffered further bereavement. The matriarch of the family, Aunty Elaine has died, and so has Della's husband Jimmy, who lived a few doors down and was still a big part of her life even though they had separated. Della has had a drinking problem for a long time, and the disappearance of a child on Hampstead Heath triggers memories that exacerbate a trauma that has never gone away.
This is not a story about the Stolen Generations: an historic criminal abduction of an Indigenous child is one element in a more complex story—but it shows with heartbreaking clarity how the loss of a child in any circumstances is a trauma that never goes away and persists into ensuing generations. Reading between the lines, we see how in Indigenous communities such losses were a different kind of crime. They were due to racist child removal policies and programs which affected not only the extended families of the stolen children but entire communities where the loss was not a rare and remarkable disappearance like that of the child on Hampstead Heath, but was something that happened to numerous families, and repeatedly, sometimes one child after another and sometimes all the children at once. We see also from the backstory that the abduction of Brittany from her Indigenous family was treated with little urgency and hurtful suspicion whereas the missing child in England arouses public sympathy across the country.
While persisting intergenerational trauma is a thread that runs through the novel, After Story is also a marvellous evocation of travel that takes the form of literary pilgrimage.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/08/10/a...
Ostensibly a mother-daughter story about literary travel in the UK, After Story is much more than that.
When Jasmine's plans for a trip with her BFF Bex fall through, she asks her mother Della to come with her instead, and the story is narrated in alternating chapters by these two. They don't have a great relationship: Della stayed in her home town all her life while Jasmine was on the bus to Sydney as soon as she received an early offer to study law. The family dynamics are complicated by the abduction of Jasmine's seven-year-old sister Brittany from their bedroom 25 years ago when Jasmine was only three. She has no memory of her family before this tragedy, and she has only ever known her mother as traumatised by it. Jasmine has coped with the gossip and innuendo by being diligent at school and unobtrusive, always trying to be 'good' to disprove the stereotypes of Aborigines that cripple her spirit, while her sister Leigh-Anne confronts racism head-on.
Not long before the trip takes place, Della has suffered further bereavement. The matriarch of the family, Aunty Elaine has died, and so has Della's husband Jimmy, who lived a few doors down and was still a big part of her life even though they had separated. Della has had a drinking problem for a long time, and the disappearance of a child on Hampstead Heath triggers memories that exacerbate a trauma that has never gone away.
This is not a story about the Stolen Generations: an historic criminal abduction of an Indigenous child is one element in a more complex story—but it shows with heartbreaking clarity how the loss of a child in any circumstances is a trauma that never goes away and persists into ensuing generations. Reading between the lines, we see how in Indigenous communities such losses were a different kind of crime. They were due to racist child removal policies and programs which affected not only the extended families of the stolen children but entire communities where the loss was not a rare and remarkable disappearance like that of the child on Hampstead Heath, but was something that happened to numerous families, and repeatedly, sometimes one child after another and sometimes all the children at once. We see also from the backstory that the abduction of Brittany from her Indigenous family was treated with little urgency and hurtful suspicion whereas the missing child in England arouses public sympathy across the country.
While persisting intergenerational trauma is a thread that runs through the novel, After Story is also a marvellous evocation of travel that takes the form of literary pilgrimage.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/08/10/a...
August 6, 2021
Loved this book. Behrendt’s writing is gentle and filled with acute observations of human nature and character. After Story is narrated alternately by a mother and daughter. The way they each interpret life, the same situations and events, how age and generation influence their thoughts and view of circumstances was so astutely written. And in this time of being unable to travel, it was a bonus, and absolute joy to go on a tour of literary England with them.
I love the way Behrendt gently weaves Indigenous culture into a story. I found the same when I read Home, many years ago. It’s a lesson and insight into their history, way of life, culture and society.
As a footnote, this is the first book I’ve read in audible format. It took me a short while to adjust, but I ended up enjoying it. I liked how there was a different reader for Della and Jasmine and I find I can still hear, and feel their characters now. A part of me wants to read the physical book though, to be able to see the beauty of Behrendt’s writing on the page. I can imagine I’ll listen to it again.
I love the way Behrendt gently weaves Indigenous culture into a story. I found the same when I read Home, many years ago. It’s a lesson and insight into their history, way of life, culture and society.
As a footnote, this is the first book I’ve read in audible format. It took me a short while to adjust, but I ended up enjoying it. I liked how there was a different reader for Della and Jasmine and I find I can still hear, and feel their characters now. A part of me wants to read the physical book though, to be able to see the beauty of Behrendt’s writing on the page. I can imagine I’ll listen to it again.
October 12, 2021
Loved the premise of the story but found the execution a little stilted. Written in diary format, as in day by day, I became a little tired of the day 3 this must be [insert town and author's home] so we did this, then that and returned to our hotel. While I enjoyed elements of the exploration of the relationships and the development of the characters, especially Della, I'm afraid I wanted more.
June 18, 2022
Larissa Behrendt, a talented author who is also a lawyer who has worked on indigenous issues in both Australia and abroad has crafted a layered tale in her novel After Story.
On the surface it is a tale about a daughter, Jasmine who takes her mother, Della on a guided tour of literary sites in England. Della, the daughter of an indigenous woman and white man has never traveled outside of Australia before. Jasmine, a lawyer wants to connect with her mother while giving Della glimpse of her world.
The books chapters are divided by the days of the tour and on each day we are given a view of the location through both Della and Jasmine's eyes. We see how vastly different the experiences can be for them:
"I found Mum walking in the garden. ‘What did you think?’ I asked her as we got back onto the bus. ‘This garden is a nice place to bury your pets,’ she observed."
Jasmine felt that Della was dismissive of the classics and the tour, while Della was really impacted by the gardens and the nature on the tour. They both are learning about themselves through the tour and the classics are giving them insight into the indigenous story telling.
Behrendt confronts such issues of intergeneration trauma, misunderstandings in families and brings a new look at indigenous culture through a tour of England and the classics.
We visit places of importance to Virginia Wolf, Vita Sackville-West, Lewis Carroll, D.H. Lawrence, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes among others. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and did a google trip along with it.
It does move slowly and those who do not have an interest in the books and the tour will not be charmed as I was.
For me it was a truly delightful trip.
On the surface it is a tale about a daughter, Jasmine who takes her mother, Della on a guided tour of literary sites in England. Della, the daughter of an indigenous woman and white man has never traveled outside of Australia before. Jasmine, a lawyer wants to connect with her mother while giving Della glimpse of her world.
The books chapters are divided by the days of the tour and on each day we are given a view of the location through both Della and Jasmine's eyes. We see how vastly different the experiences can be for them:
"I found Mum walking in the garden. ‘What did you think?’ I asked her as we got back onto the bus. ‘This garden is a nice place to bury your pets,’ she observed."
Jasmine felt that Della was dismissive of the classics and the tour, while Della was really impacted by the gardens and the nature on the tour. They both are learning about themselves through the tour and the classics are giving them insight into the indigenous story telling.
Behrendt confronts such issues of intergeneration trauma, misunderstandings in families and brings a new look at indigenous culture through a tour of England and the classics.
We visit places of importance to Virginia Wolf, Vita Sackville-West, Lewis Carroll, D.H. Lawrence, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes among others. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and did a google trip along with it.
It does move slowly and those who do not have an interest in the books and the tour will not be charmed as I was.
For me it was a truly delightful trip.
August 12, 2021
There was so much I loved about this book. The characters are complex and well thought out. Hearing from both the main characters in first person really let me get to know Della and Jasmine and their perspectives. The road trip vibe of mother and daughter travelling on a literary tour with unlikely companions and what this experience brings out of them was beautifully done.
The thing I struggled with, and I think this is probably just a personal preference, was going over the same day from multiple perspectives. While I enjoyed this dynamic at first, by the time we got to Day 5 or so of the tour I was starting to feel like the story was always taking one step forward, one step back when I desperately wanted it to forge ahead. I’m sure this won’t be a problem for some people, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if some days just focused on one characters perspective.
The thing I struggled with, and I think this is probably just a personal preference, was going over the same day from multiple perspectives. While I enjoyed this dynamic at first, by the time we got to Day 5 or so of the tour I was starting to feel like the story was always taking one step forward, one step back when I desperately wanted it to forge ahead. I’m sure this won’t be a problem for some people, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if some days just focused on one characters perspective.
October 26, 2021
This would have to be one of my favourite novels in 2021.
A contemporary story that takes us out of Australia on a British literary tour with two indigenous women, a mother and daughter. The daughter is the first of her family to graduate in Law at Uni, and is struggling with one of her first cases, a violent girl, who in her turn has suffered terribly. The mother, from a small town, is still struggling with what happened to another daughter when she disappeared one night many years before and her own disturbing childhood.
The story is narrated beautifully in turn by both mother and daughter in alternating chapters.
A huge amount is covered, what is happening in both the present day and in not just the recent past but much earlier as well.
Can't recommend it highly enough. Loved it and have ordered my own copy to read again.
A contemporary story that takes us out of Australia on a British literary tour with two indigenous women, a mother and daughter. The daughter is the first of her family to graduate in Law at Uni, and is struggling with one of her first cases, a violent girl, who in her turn has suffered terribly. The mother, from a small town, is still struggling with what happened to another daughter when she disappeared one night many years before and her own disturbing childhood.
The story is narrated beautifully in turn by both mother and daughter in alternating chapters.
A huge amount is covered, what is happening in both the present day and in not just the recent past but much earlier as well.
Can't recommend it highly enough. Loved it and have ordered my own copy to read again.
May 16, 2022
These are the stories we need to keep reading.
August 27, 2021
Think I lost my review. Sigh.
Briefly, I loved the travels around literary authors’ homes in the UK. Mother daughter relationships a big feature of the travellers’ life story. Indigenous experience of life forms the whole framework. Powerful, different, I loved this book,
Briefly, I loved the travels around literary authors’ homes in the UK. Mother daughter relationships a big feature of the travellers’ life story. Indigenous experience of life forms the whole framework. Powerful, different, I loved this book,
June 12, 2025
What a pleasant little surprise this book was. This was this month’s bookclub choice about an indigenous lawyer who takes her Mum on a literary tour in England. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story but it was so beautiful, interesting, compassionate and full of hidden depths and complexity. I was both intrigued by the learnings of the literary tour and moved by the developments of the personal issues of mother, daughter and their relationship with each other.
This book does cover some heavy topics such as racism, colonisation, women’s place in society, substance abuse, sexual assault and harm to children but it handles each issue sensitively.
I highly recommend this book and it made me want to go on a literary tour myself 😅
This book does cover some heavy topics such as racism, colonisation, women’s place in society, substance abuse, sexual assault and harm to children but it handles each issue sensitively.
I highly recommend this book and it made me want to go on a literary tour myself 😅
January 11, 2022
Larissa Behrendt’s novel After Story (UQP 2021) is a blending of narratives, styles and themes, with appeal to those who love the traditions of English literature such as Shakespeare and Austen, and equally those who want to learn more about First Nations history. It is also a genre-bender, as it contains a subtext of crime, or rather the aftermath and repercussions of crime, and how that effects family, friends and the wider community.
It is the same story told in alternating chapters by two narrators – Indigenous lawyer Jasmine, and her mother Della. The two are travelling together on a literary tour of England, learning about famous writers such as the Bronte sisters and Virginia Woolf through visiting their childhood homes, the places they studied and wrote, and museums dedicated to their work. For Jasmine, the trip is a chance to indulge in the lives of her literary heroes, plus a way to regain closeness with her mum. For Della, the whole experience is astonishing – everything she sees and learns, the people she meets and the places they visit. But the biggest surprise of all is that the trip awakes in her a yearning for the wisdom and storytelling of her own culture, as the comparisons between two cultures and two histories often conflict.
Behind the simple tale of a tourist tour is a more serious undertone, the fact that Jasmine’s sister disappeared over 25 years earlier. The toll this has taken on the family simmers constantly under the surface, affecting the dynamics of all the relationships in their tight-knit community. And when a little girl goes missing on Hampstead Heath during their trip, the memories come thick and fast for Della, and open a floodgate on her own childhood and the secrets she has kept for her whole life.
The book is organised into the 10 days of the trip and Behrendt has a lovely way of writing that is easy to read yet overflowing with knowledge. Della discovers the history of English writing with a refreshing naivety and ingenuousness, but what it unleashes in her is a renewed interest and commitment to her own culture and storytelling. Jasmine realises that although she is book smart, her mother has knowledge and secrets that run deeper than she suspected, and that sometimes not all stories are told.
With themes of reconciliation, family dynamics, grief and loss, great literature and compassion, After Story pulls the reader into a fascinating history of the works of great authors, but also introduces us to the equally as important and impressive oral history of Australia’s First Nations people. It also traverses the difficult and confronting territory of social poverty, alcohol abuse and domestic violence. The characters are flawed and nothing is black and white. It is a story as much about the lack of knowledge of some First Nations people about their own history – or the lack of the curation and preservation of that knowledge – as it is about the ignorance and superiority of previous and current (white) generations.
And while the book does negotiate such difficult terrain, it is also a hopeful and optimistic story about the power of love, family, history, culture and connection, featuring relatable characters. The exploration of the mother/daughter bond is especially rich and layered.
At the end is ‘Jasmine’s Tour Reading List’, full of great English works, and also ‘Notes on the Literary Tour’ which enable the reader to embark on their own similar, self-guided tour (Covid permitting, of course!)
It is the same story told in alternating chapters by two narrators – Indigenous lawyer Jasmine, and her mother Della. The two are travelling together on a literary tour of England, learning about famous writers such as the Bronte sisters and Virginia Woolf through visiting their childhood homes, the places they studied and wrote, and museums dedicated to their work. For Jasmine, the trip is a chance to indulge in the lives of her literary heroes, plus a way to regain closeness with her mum. For Della, the whole experience is astonishing – everything she sees and learns, the people she meets and the places they visit. But the biggest surprise of all is that the trip awakes in her a yearning for the wisdom and storytelling of her own culture, as the comparisons between two cultures and two histories often conflict.
Behind the simple tale of a tourist tour is a more serious undertone, the fact that Jasmine’s sister disappeared over 25 years earlier. The toll this has taken on the family simmers constantly under the surface, affecting the dynamics of all the relationships in their tight-knit community. And when a little girl goes missing on Hampstead Heath during their trip, the memories come thick and fast for Della, and open a floodgate on her own childhood and the secrets she has kept for her whole life.
The book is organised into the 10 days of the trip and Behrendt has a lovely way of writing that is easy to read yet overflowing with knowledge. Della discovers the history of English writing with a refreshing naivety and ingenuousness, but what it unleashes in her is a renewed interest and commitment to her own culture and storytelling. Jasmine realises that although she is book smart, her mother has knowledge and secrets that run deeper than she suspected, and that sometimes not all stories are told.
With themes of reconciliation, family dynamics, grief and loss, great literature and compassion, After Story pulls the reader into a fascinating history of the works of great authors, but also introduces us to the equally as important and impressive oral history of Australia’s First Nations people. It also traverses the difficult and confronting territory of social poverty, alcohol abuse and domestic violence. The characters are flawed and nothing is black and white. It is a story as much about the lack of knowledge of some First Nations people about their own history – or the lack of the curation and preservation of that knowledge – as it is about the ignorance and superiority of previous and current (white) generations.
And while the book does negotiate such difficult terrain, it is also a hopeful and optimistic story about the power of love, family, history, culture and connection, featuring relatable characters. The exploration of the mother/daughter bond is especially rich and layered.
At the end is ‘Jasmine’s Tour Reading List’, full of great English works, and also ‘Notes on the Literary Tour’ which enable the reader to embark on their own similar, self-guided tour (Covid permitting, of course!)
June 13, 2022
I have read many novels by Indigenous Australian writers over recent years. This was probably the most unexpected. I have also read many novels that celebrate the importance and continuity of story, as this does.
Behrendt is ambitious in creating mother and daughter characters whose generational difference is marked. Della grew up in the 'better' part of a country town, with a racist and abusive white father and an Aboriginal mother. As a teenager she found refuge in the arms of Jimmy from Frog Hollow, the part of town where the poor Aboriginal people lived. There she remained. Her youngest daughter, Jasmine, was determined to leave her environment and went on to study law. Many years later, she decides to take her mother on a tour of England's famous literary locations.
This is an unlikely scenario but Behrendt makes it work. Della's responses to the tour are naive but genuine; she also makes unexpected connections to stories from her own Aboriginal heritage. Jasmine's reflections on what she sees and learns are sophisticated and insightful. The characters of the leader of the tour and other tour members add tension and humour.
The relationship between mother and daughter is often rocky. To complicate matters, Jasmine's eldest sister Brittany was murdered when she was a child. This buried grief underpins much of the novel. Another thread is the ongoing worry Jasmine has about her Legal Aid client back in Australia, a woman murderer who had suffered a disrupted and unloving childhood. Questions of nature and nurture, motherhood and sisterhood are intertwined with visits to places like Stratford (Shakespeare) and Bath (Austen) and reflections on how stories can illuminate, challenge and comfort.
Behrendt is ambitious in creating mother and daughter characters whose generational difference is marked. Della grew up in the 'better' part of a country town, with a racist and abusive white father and an Aboriginal mother. As a teenager she found refuge in the arms of Jimmy from Frog Hollow, the part of town where the poor Aboriginal people lived. There she remained. Her youngest daughter, Jasmine, was determined to leave her environment and went on to study law. Many years later, she decides to take her mother on a tour of England's famous literary locations.
This is an unlikely scenario but Behrendt makes it work. Della's responses to the tour are naive but genuine; she also makes unexpected connections to stories from her own Aboriginal heritage. Jasmine's reflections on what she sees and learns are sophisticated and insightful. The characters of the leader of the tour and other tour members add tension and humour.
The relationship between mother and daughter is often rocky. To complicate matters, Jasmine's eldest sister Brittany was murdered when she was a child. This buried grief underpins much of the novel. Another thread is the ongoing worry Jasmine has about her Legal Aid client back in Australia, a woman murderer who had suffered a disrupted and unloving childhood. Questions of nature and nurture, motherhood and sisterhood are intertwined with visits to places like Stratford (Shakespeare) and Bath (Austen) and reflections on how stories can illuminate, challenge and comfort.
June 25, 2022
I was disappointed in this book. I want to hear more of the voices of Aboriginal women but this book was trying to cram too much into one novel and could have benefitted from a really good edit. It dumbed down the literary tour into a basic travel guide for someone who knew nothing about English literature. The first few chapters were excruciating - like I was reading a teenager's diary of her first trip into the 'big world'. The pace picked up but there were about four stories that could have been treated on their own as separate novels and been better told. The parts about the client and the missing girl in England for example were irrelevant. The dumbed down aspects of Aboriginal history sounded like they came straight from Behrendt's book 'Indigenous Australia for Dummies'. There was so much opportunity for a really nuanced story just about a mother and daughter and the effects of generational loss in an Aboriginal family without trying to shoehorn all of the the other unnecessary stories.
May 5, 2022
What a beautifully gentle story this is!
This was a really interesting examination of a mother-daughter relationship strained by a traumatic past. The look at intergenerational trauma, Indigenous culture, family and racism provided such rich content and this book raises a heap of ideas for the reader to consider.
I loved the setting and a literary tour of the UK was a really interesting way to tie in an examination of the protagonists’ own histories.
My favourite thing about this novel was the small studies and facts dropped about the lives of literary icons throughout the tour. Such interesting content to weave into a story and an absolute delight for a book lover to read! I also thoroughly enjoyed the alternating POV chapters that allowed us to see how Della & Jasmine each interpreted events differently. I just adored the character of Della & loved the wonder and thoughtfulness in her observations.
This was a really interesting examination of a mother-daughter relationship strained by a traumatic past. The look at intergenerational trauma, Indigenous culture, family and racism provided such rich content and this book raises a heap of ideas for the reader to consider.
I loved the setting and a literary tour of the UK was a really interesting way to tie in an examination of the protagonists’ own histories.
My favourite thing about this novel was the small studies and facts dropped about the lives of literary icons throughout the tour. Such interesting content to weave into a story and an absolute delight for a book lover to read! I also thoroughly enjoyed the alternating POV chapters that allowed us to see how Della & Jasmine each interpreted events differently. I just adored the character of Della & loved the wonder and thoughtfulness in her observations.
May 5, 2022
I became very bored by this book despite it sounding very interesting and especially as it’s a tour I’d like to do. However, the author was more interested in how the mother and daughter felt and their trial of living so close during the trip. Little mundane things are mentioned but I needed much more about the places visited and about authors mentioned but this seemed to be skimmed over. Less about who shared the bus trip with them and their idiosyncrasies would have meant much more for me. It’s quite well written and could appeal to many if you don’t want to hear nor learn too much about the authors mentioned in the story. The blurb caught my interest but not the actual story. However, it did remind me to perhaps read some of the older great authors one day, whom I have long forgotten
February 15, 2022
I’m giving this three and a half stars and rounding it up to four, based mainly on the enjoyment I felt while reading this book. I liked the mother daughter insights and flashbacks into the past and how they sorted through the difficult relationship they had with each other and the rest of the family. I loved the history and the storytelling aspect of the book. I’d also love to do the whole literary tour that this book took us on. It was interesting reading all the information about the authors and places visited. This is a Bookclub read so I probably would never have picked it up if it hadn’t been chosen for this month. It’s a light and easy read.
abandoned-dnf
June 5, 2024DNF'd @ 35% - I felt continually distracted. No offense, whatsoever, to the author; my fault alone.
July 27, 2024
July 2024 - Just as magnificent on the second read. Can’t wait to discuss this wonderfully rich text at Book Club.
Utterly brilliant. A rich, multi-layered story exploring family (particularly the mother-daughter dynamic), culture, class, literature, gardening, perspectives in storytelling, colonisation, trauma, knowledge and power. With such deep, complex themes and so many beautifully written sentences featuring words of wisdom, this is a novel to return to over and over. I suspect the reader will gain more from each reading. I particularly enjoyed the character of Della who, despite her self-professed naivety, showed great insight into and curiosity about the world around her. Possibly the best book I’ve read this year.
Utterly brilliant. A rich, multi-layered story exploring family (particularly the mother-daughter dynamic), culture, class, literature, gardening, perspectives in storytelling, colonisation, trauma, knowledge and power. With such deep, complex themes and so many beautifully written sentences featuring words of wisdom, this is a novel to return to over and over. I suspect the reader will gain more from each reading. I particularly enjoyed the character of Della who, despite her self-professed naivety, showed great insight into and curiosity about the world around her. Possibly the best book I’ve read this year.
July 21, 2021
Brilliant. A well-written, well-told story of grief, trauma, the beginnings of healing, the power and connectivity of stories, and much, much more.
January 8, 2024
Lovely to read about so many of the famous authors and the back stories behind classic books during an English literary tour - entwined with a touching mother and daughter coming together story following.family trauma. The two main narrators - mum and daughter- are of indigenous heritage. How can you go wrong with Austen, dickens, Hardy etc all in the same book
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