Living in Hope

Inland Writers Series #1

by Frank Byrne, Frances Coughlan (Co-author), Gerard Waterford (Co-author)

Book one in the Inland Writers series - short reads from the Centre of Australia.

The killing times were barely over in the Kimberley.
What I knew, even as a small boy, was that no-one argued with a whitefella. People talked in whispers.
I was still so small.
This is the story of the early years of my life. The story of a boy who was taken away from his mother and his family forever when he was just six years old. He had no say in it. His family had no say in it. The government had all the say in everything.
A memoir of boyhood by a man who was removed as a child - from country, from culture and language, from family, from his mother.
Filled with surprises and unlikely fun, this is more than just a story of surviving. From hiding out from the Japanese in spring-fed caves in the deep Kimberley, to being let loose in a paddock just like a poddy calf at Moola Bulla, to cowboy comics at the Beagle Bay mission.
A story of white bosses, of priest bosses, of black stockmen and of staying out of trouble.
With honesty and unexpected graciousness, Frank reminds us of a not-so-distant past and of how things happened for Aboriginal people in the North West.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia

54 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gently told memoir tells a shatteringly sad story without adornment or emotional manipulation. The book is not 'sad' in a milking emotion or manipulative sense (it is not Angela's Ashes). Byrne's sparse, slight sentences bring the reader to see the world through the eyes of a small child ripped from all caretakers and effectively incarcerated thousands of kilometres away. A detail I can't forget is the adults in the local Aboriginal communities finding language speakers for each child, ensuring that everyone has a person who can understand them. Another is the simple relationships of comfort that the children form with each other, sneaking out to lie side-by-side, finding their own ways to get caring human touch. You don't need a histrionic style to drive home the horrendous nature of a government that could be so mistreating Indigenous people.
The detail in this short little book is rich, and Byrne has a knack for a good story, making it very engaging. I very much look forward to more in this series.

[Luis Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es un vistazo en las memorias de Frank Byrne, un mestizo de Australia, que describe los primeros años de su vida. Nos permite ver un poco de la cultura aborigen de la época de 1930 a 1940 en una estación al norte de aquel país. También nos describe la experiencia de ser parte de una tradición de la gente blanca para con los mestizos de esa época y la vida dentro de la comunidad de las misiones británicas católicas.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Frank Byrne and his family, a mother he adored, a step father and his biological father, Jack Byrne. It is mainly about Frank because as a half caste his parents lost him to the State when he was 9 yrs old. Something he knew later they saw coming but were powerless to prevent. In it he reports the callous and neglectful attitude shown toward him a small boy and the other children who were his friends along the way by those who held all the power side by side with happy memories of playing with his friends, fishing and hunting and a never ending search for food - and underneath both these a misery at the loss of his mother that he never overcame, exacerbated by the fact that he kept getting hints that something was wrong in her life but given no detail. The story is on the surface a simple enough one but it is the voice that makes his story dig deep. It is told through a child's eyes: clear sighted and moving between moments of cheerfulnes or sadness or determination without self pity and with quiet condemnation. A book and a boy that stays in memory long after the last page is read.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and interesting true story.
It gives the reader a good understanding and picture
of what Frank went through growing up in the time
of the Stolen Generation.
It did not take long to read as it is a small book.
I highly recommend it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cultural warning: Indigenous readers please be aware that this post contains content about, and weblinks to video images of, a deceased person.

The Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA) is designed to unearth literary treasures that might otherwise have been overlooked – and the 2018 winner is certainly an example of that. The MUBA award judges, Sarah L’Estrange, Megan O’Brien and Toni Jordan said that Living in Hope, by Stolen Generations survivor Frank Byrne is an important story of survival and hope and that the award, coming just after the death of the author aged 80, offered some measure of comfort to his family. But Living in Hope is a very small book, published by a very small non-profit community publisher based in Mparntwe Alice Springs, and it’s a title that had not crossed my radar at all until the MUBA shone a light on it. And yet it’s a book, like Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss, which has revelatory power.
The book is co-authored by social workers and Bringing Them Home counsellors Frances Coughlan and Gerard Waterford who have played a similar facilitative role to the people behind the Makor Write Your Story program for Holocaust survivors at the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia. As you can hear at this site, Frank spoke Aboriginal English, and as well as facilitating the recording of his story, Coughlan and Waterford have rendered the text into Standard Australian English to make it ready for publication. But as I know from conversations with Lamm Library staff, facilitators perform much more than a technical or editing role. Telling a story of survival involves confronting painful memories, so supportive listeners are needed to provide comfort and encouragement, even when there is a steely determination to set the record straight.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/01/07/l...

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short memoir is told by Mr Byrne in a storytelling way. He recounts what his life was like in the Kimberly on a station with the extended family, being born in 1937. He recalls how his family's attitude and demeanor changed when white fellas came around, where talking changed to a whisper. He learned as a young boy, it was safest to keep your mouth shut and keep your head down when white fellas came around. Even as a young boy, he understood the hardships of lack of quality food and housing, always feeling hungry under the feudal system that existed on stations of that era. He tells of the trauma of being pulled away from his Mother and family at the age of 6. He still recalls it as the worst day of his life. He was taken to a mission - a school, where he slept in a dormitory, and was put into a regiment of living. While the food was better and there weren't mistreated, there were cruelty, such as only being informed of the death of his Mother, but not allowed to return for the sorry business (funeral). He was allowed to leave the school at the age of 15 and began work as a stockman. He kept in touch with those in his group over the years. But sadly all these men and women from that era are passing away as did Mr Byrne in Oct 2017. This is a good little reminder of the cruelty of that time.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank writes in a flow of consciousness style. The book is an important document and even a history of a time that is a matter of shame for Australia.
I noticed that Frank and his family were always on the move, after another job or a different house to live in. Some of it was from necessity and some from choice. I wonder if the lack of firm roots after being uplifted by the State in his childhood gave rise to the constant moving.
Highly recommended reading

[Chris Waterford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank tells the story of his childhood after he was taken away from his parents when he was 6. His good recall of the details of his life makes this story come to life and he shines a torch on events where there has been largely darkness to date. An important story, well told.

[Maham Abrar]

heartbreaking. the evil of colonisation is limitless.