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The Yield by Tara June Winch - 4* - My Review

August is a Wiradjuri woman living in England in the early 2000s. She has returned home to New South Wales, Australia, for the funeral of her grandfather, Albert “Poppy” Gondiwindi. Prosperous House was a mission in the 1900s, run by the well-intentioned Reverend Ferdinand Greenleaf, a Lutheran minister from Germany, who introduced Christianity to the Wiradjuri and attempted to shield them from attacks by white settlers. His story is told through his letters to the British Society of Ethnography. His letters speak of the violence (kidnapping, rape, murder) he witnessed against the indigenous people, and the distress he felt at the lack of consequences. The third narrative device lies in Poppy’s dictionary of the Wiradjuri language, which he feared would be lost along with their culture and traditions.

The plot relates to August’s battle against the mining company that has taken over Prosperous House, the home of her grandmother, Elsie, who is slated for eviction. Prosperous was originally built on Wiradjuri lands, so this action would serve as a second dispossession. August needs to find Poppy’s dictionary to prove Elsie’s linkage to the land.

The novel is structured in rotational chapters among August, Rev Greenleaf’s letters, and Poppy’s dictionary. It explores the impact of colonialism on the aboriginal people, including the loss of their languages. It is a story of the many factors that have led to their displacement. The author, a Wiradjuri woman, has created an insightful and complex story. The use of the dictionary is a stroke of brilliance, as it provides context that many readers would not have known.

“I was born on Ngurambang — can you hear it? — Ngu-ram-bang. If you say it right it hits the back of your mouth and you should taste blood in your words. Every person around should learn the word for country in the old language, the first language — because that is the way to all time, to time travel! You can go all the way back.” (from Poppy’s dictionary)