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EDENGLASSIE

Melissa Lucashenko

In this epic novel set in Brisbane when First Nations people still outnumber the colonists, award-winning Goorie author Melissa Lucashenko tells two extraordinary stories set five generations apart.
When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice.

Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny. Together they care for obstinate centenarian Grannie Eddie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives.

In this brilliant epic, Melissa Lucashenko torches Queensland's colonial myths, while reimagining an Australian future.

Melissa Lucashenko is a Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage. Her first novel was published in 1997 and since then her work has received acclaim in many literary awards. Killing Darcy won the Royal Blind Society Award and was shortlisted for an Aurealis award. Her sixth novel, Too Much Lip, won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance. It was also shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, the Stella Prize, two Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, two Queensland Literary Awards and two NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Melissa is a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside. She writes about ordinary Australians and the extraordinary lives they lead. Her latest book is Edenglassie.
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Published 2023-10-03 by UQP University of Queensland Press - St Lucia (AUS)

Book

Published 2023-10-03 by UQP University of Queensland Press - St Lucia (AUS)

Comments

Melissa is the big gust of leaf laden wind that we needed.

Edenglassie paints a nuanced picture of the complex weave of relationships between the colonists and Goorie people, as well as bearing witness to terrible acts committed on country - massacres, stolen children - but it retains a grim humour, a lightness of foot, and a palpable commitment to never giving up on the ongoing struggle for recognition and respect. It is a rage-informed, joyful, rollicking, straight-talking yarn of the strength and persistence of Goorie people in Brisbane since the coming of the Dagai. Read more...

A literary epic ... The tragedy, injustice and brutality of the British invasion are made visible in the historical setting as well as in the contemporary one, where we see its impact on the present-day characters, but Edenglassie also portrays deep hope, resistance and reverence, and is fierce in its commitment to building a rich life swelling with love. Read more...

Edenglassie - an early name for Brisbane - slides deftly between past and present and eyes a future for all.

Announced for 2024 Miles Franklin Longlist

This novel is a gift to all who pick it up and journey with the stories it holds. Read more...

Edenglassie moves in a great concentric arc with many ripples, like those in the river that is central to the action; and which is an ancient, unbroken vein that pulses life from past to present to future in a continuous cycle. Despite horrific colonial injustices meted out to Goories, this is a story of strength and love. It is an accumulation of all times - a testimony to the continuation of Aboriginal storytelling, value systems, intellectualism, scientific and technological literacy, and understandings of time, non-human agency, and Country. Read more...

Lucashenko is a national treasure: there are no two ways around it.

In a place of biblical beauty, 'Edenglassie', the latest epic by Miles Franklin-winner Melissa Lucashenko, reflects a luminous spectrum of Aboriginal experience over five generations. Powered by a tidal rhythm that both enamours and smashes the heart, two life stories expand into a universe of meaning. Read more...

I could barely breathe towards the end of Edenglassie. Lucashenko bridges the gap between past and present in a way that's utterly devastating... and also, somehow, she's very funny. I don't know how she does it, but she does it so well. I think this novel is brilliant.

It is always such a pleasure to read Melissa Lucashenko's writing. The interwoven timelines are seamless, the research is impeccable and nothing feels needlessly included because it was learned, the brutality is there but never gratuitous, and my heart sang and wept in equal measure.

[Edenglassie] unpicks the myths of Brisbane's colonial history and puts the shocking brutality and injustice of British occupation under eye-opening scrutiny. With the dual time line, we see how that past continues to leave its mark on the present and future as we connect deeply with Melissa's cast of beautifully drawn characters.

Gripping, political, horny, moving and very, very funny. Make it into a film already. Read more...