Reviews

A beautiful story about a young girl & her Nan, Aunties, Sister and Mother. The book explores the life of a girl in her humble home in rural town Gundagai (Wiradjuri country) where the old women in her life spin yarns around their communal space of an evening with pots of tea and great senses of humour. There is unrest in the mother who comes and goes but in the end, home is where the heart is. Thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to re-reading it.

taliastorm's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

brian_be_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

vincent_coles's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

norakate's review against another edition

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2.0

⭐️ 3.5

One of the better books I’ve read for school. A little hard to get into, but had some overall enjoyable parts. The ending (epilogue) really got me in the feels. It (the epilogue especially) was just written so beautifully and ended it perfectly, even if it was a little bittersweet.

lowlandsbeach's review against another edition

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3.0

I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had been written as a non-fiction autobiography/family history. I found the earlier chapters slightly tedious, I wasn't enjoying the narrative being carried by conversations which were a bit mundane/predictable. At the beginning I was a bit bored by this novel, but started quite liking it in later chapters. I enjoyed the descriptions of country through the seasons. Nan was raised in a church home and married to a white farmer, who brought her back to her own country, where she had lots of daughters and three/four? sons. Petal's mum is probably one of the daughters. The narrator, Sunshine, is Petal's daughter. Sunshine and her sister Star are raised by their Nan and Aunty Boo and Aunty Bubby. To appear respectable and to possibly avoid being taken by welfare , the children are dressed smartly and attend church, despite Nan and Aunties being irreligious. The family do not appear to practise much traditional culture, (destructive colonisation/Nan stolen generation married to white farmer, disrupted culture), but retain a connection with and knowledge of the land and seasonal changes, love of animals, care and respect for family, take the law into their own hands when a neighbour experiences domestic violence, occasionally criticise/ridicule settlors' attitudes/actions etc. Aunty Boo manages to hold on to the farmhouse and the farm paddock, despite the white grandfather wanting all to go to his youngest son who wants to sell. I would love to read the authentic family history, I don't think the story/plot works so well as fiction

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