Preview :: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray :: Anita Heiss

Just popping in super quick today to share a preview of a book I’m busting to read in June. I picked up Anita Heiss’ new novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray when I was at the Sydney Writers’ Festival last month, and I have been saving it until I had time to savour it. I’m planning to read it soon – I think if I haven’t got to it by the long weekend then I might lock myself away somewhere quiet and get into it then. Here’s the blurb from Anita’s website:

Gundagai, 1852

The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can just as easily take it away.

Wagadhaany is one of the lucky ones. She survives. But is her life now better than the fate she escaped? Forced to move away from her miyagan, she walks through each day with no trace of dance in her step, her broken heart forever calling her back home to Gundagai.

When she meets Wiradyuri stockman Yindyamarra, Wagadhaany’s heart slowly begins to heal. But still, she dreams of a better life, away from the degradation of being owned. She longs to set out along the river of her ancestors, in search of lost family and country. Can she find the courage to defy the White man’s law? And if she does, will it bring hope … or heartache?

Let me know if this one is on your June tbr – I’d love to chat after we read it!

xo Bron