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peita_hansen's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gemmaduds's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written historic Australian fiction, beginning in the 1850s.
The Finch family move from Adelaide to a remote location in the Coorong, and struggle to settle a farm together in the wilderness.
Salt Creek is a captivating coming of age story and family drama that I found myself absorbed in. Wonderful characters wrapped in romance, tragedy and hardship - a dream to read.
The Finch family move from Adelaide to a remote location in the Coorong, and struggle to settle a farm together in the wilderness.
Salt Creek is a captivating coming of age story and family drama that I found myself absorbed in. Wonderful characters wrapped in romance, tragedy and hardship - a dream to read.
nataliemeree's review against another edition
4.0
The complete hypocrisy of the white settlers is startling in every part of this story
rojaed's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting portrait of a place and time. The author juggles a coming of age; life as a pioneer farmer; conflict with Indigenous people; and a stubborn, but foolish father with skill.
katdid's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. This was good (“competent” is the right word, maybe?) but nothing special. (I feel really bad writing that.) I spent the whole novel with a sense of dread, because anything depicting interactions between colonials and Indigenous will almost certainly pan out badly for the latter. But it felt timely to be reading this on Australia Day. (Afterwards I was talking to my neighbour Will, an Indigenous man – to my shame I have no idea who his mob are, except that they’re from out past Bourke – and he’d been at the local Redfern event and said he’d never seen so many white people at it before, all wearing the Aboriginal flag and sporting face paint. “It was like spot the blackfella!” he said. #changethedate)
Spoiler
Tull didn’t get murdered, at least, which I would have put money on. And while I’m at it I thought it was really unlikely that Addie, given her headstrong character, would just meekly marry Mr Stubbs and go off to her life with him even if they did make a pact.openmypages's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this one as colonial Australia is just something I don’t know much about. I hated the abuses therein and almost abandoned it a few times. The twist in the end made me really annoyed.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, a huge thank you to the wonderful people at Gallic Press who got in touch with me via email and asked me if I'd be interested in reading a couple of their titles that they thought I would enjoy. The first title was Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar and caught my attention immediately from that beautiful synopsis that instantly made me feel like this book was begging to be read. Well, let me just say that Gallic Press have hit onto a real winner here with what they thought I might like, because I adored everything about this novel. Not only is there an absolutely stellar story within these pages but the novel itself is just so aesthetically pleasing with that gorgeous cover art and the fact that the jacket is slightly rough so you could almost believe you were running your hands through sand (which of course, connects with where our story is set!).
So I have to admit I was already inclined to like this novel on the outside but I'm not so shallow to believe that a pretty front cover is all it takes to make a fascinating story. Here is where I tell you that what is on the inside is just as good as the exterior. It is an epic tale of a large family who leave their home in Adelaide to live in a remote, isolated region of Australia near to some of the native Aboriginal tribes who call it their home. Stanton Finch and his family build their house from scratch, raise animals, live off the land and survive in quite harsh conditions as they enter financial difficulties, suffer their own personal tragedies and learn to co-exist with the native residents of Salt Creek in the mid to late 1800's.
An integral part of the family is fifteen year old Hester Finch and we see a lot of the narrative through her eyes as she looks out for her younger brothers and sisters, tries to comfort her distressed mother (who did not anticipate leading such an impoverished life) and begins to learn a lot about the people on the land that seem to look so different and have different customs compared to her own family. It is during those years of hardship on their land and as the family's fortune continues to dwindle that Hester begins to see a new side of some of the members of her family and realises that decisions she has made, in order to protect her family, may not be the best and healthiest decisions after all.
I'd love to say more but I simply can't! The beauty of this novel is that you really don't know where it's going to end up and I was certainly surprised and delighted by some of the more obscure avenues that the author went down that I definitely didn't expect. There is quite a slow pace at the start but please don't be put off. Once the family become ensconced at Salt Creek and you get your head round the sheer number of characters in this family, you enter a world of gorgeous story-telling, worrying prejudices and unexpected events that have to be read to be believed. I loved the author's description of the environment, it was so visceral I could picture everything that Hester sees in my mind and almost feel that oppressive heat on my back. At times, it made for quite tough reading, especially when our characters (either Australian or Aboriginal) go through difficult circumstances and I found some of the attitudes at the time particularly hard to stomach. By the end though, I left it supremely satisfied and almost as if I had gone through that journey myself with Hester and her family, which I can only give credit to Lucy Treloar for as it was she who provided such a rich and emotional reading experience.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
So I have to admit I was already inclined to like this novel on the outside but I'm not so shallow to believe that a pretty front cover is all it takes to make a fascinating story. Here is where I tell you that what is on the inside is just as good as the exterior. It is an epic tale of a large family who leave their home in Adelaide to live in a remote, isolated region of Australia near to some of the native Aboriginal tribes who call it their home. Stanton Finch and his family build their house from scratch, raise animals, live off the land and survive in quite harsh conditions as they enter financial difficulties, suffer their own personal tragedies and learn to co-exist with the native residents of Salt Creek in the mid to late 1800's.
An integral part of the family is fifteen year old Hester Finch and we see a lot of the narrative through her eyes as she looks out for her younger brothers and sisters, tries to comfort her distressed mother (who did not anticipate leading such an impoverished life) and begins to learn a lot about the people on the land that seem to look so different and have different customs compared to her own family. It is during those years of hardship on their land and as the family's fortune continues to dwindle that Hester begins to see a new side of some of the members of her family and realises that decisions she has made, in order to protect her family, may not be the best and healthiest decisions after all.
I'd love to say more but I simply can't! The beauty of this novel is that you really don't know where it's going to end up and I was certainly surprised and delighted by some of the more obscure avenues that the author went down that I definitely didn't expect. There is quite a slow pace at the start but please don't be put off. Once the family become ensconced at Salt Creek and you get your head round the sheer number of characters in this family, you enter a world of gorgeous story-telling, worrying prejudices and unexpected events that have to be read to be believed. I loved the author's description of the environment, it was so visceral I could picture everything that Hester sees in my mind and almost feel that oppressive heat on my back. At times, it made for quite tough reading, especially when our characters (either Australian or Aboriginal) go through difficult circumstances and I found some of the attitudes at the time particularly hard to stomach. By the end though, I left it supremely satisfied and almost as if I had gone through that journey myself with Hester and her family, which I can only give credit to Lucy Treloar for as it was she who provided such a rich and emotional reading experience.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
novel_nomad's review against another edition
5.0
It is rare to discover a historical fiction set in Victorian-era South Australia, but to have that same book carve a place in my heart is even rarer. Lucy Treloar's debut is filled with rich and lyrical prose that weaves through the foreign yet familiar landscape of the Coorong and South Australian bushlands.
The Finch family are down on their luck, and the enterprising father decides to gamble their futures on a stock run along the Coorong. The landscape is vast and everlasting, yet attempts are made to settle into a family home pieced together from the bones of shipwrecks. Hester is a constant companion throughout the novel, as her recollections on the desolation and destruction wrought by her father on his family and the land are emotionally charged. A brilliantly stark depiction of settler life and mentality towards the land and First Australians, and the interactions between the Finch family and Tully, an Aboriginal boy, allow the destructive colonialist ideas overpower the idealistic enlightened thoughts - especially when Mr Finch is faced with ruin and disgrace.
A once enlightening and questioning, the drama of the novel drives the reader to question rights of ownership, colonialist past, male dominance in settler states and the lingering attitudes towards First Australians. A historical fiction I would recommend to an enquiring mind with a love of rich prose.
The Finch family are down on their luck, and the enterprising father decides to gamble their futures on a stock run along the Coorong. The landscape is vast and everlasting, yet attempts are made to settle into a family home pieced together from the bones of shipwrecks. Hester is a constant companion throughout the novel, as her recollections on the desolation and destruction wrought by her father on his family and the land are emotionally charged. A brilliantly stark depiction of settler life and mentality towards the land and First Australians, and the interactions between the Finch family and Tully, an Aboriginal boy, allow the destructive colonialist ideas overpower the idealistic enlightened thoughts - especially when Mr Finch is faced with ruin and disgrace.
A once enlightening and questioning, the drama of the novel drives the reader to question rights of ownership, colonialist past, male dominance in settler states and the lingering attitudes towards First Australians. A historical fiction I would recommend to an enquiring mind with a love of rich prose.
twistinthetale's review against another edition
4.0
"Salt Creek" tells the story (partially based on fact) of the Finch family living on an isolated Coorong homestead. The struggle to survive and eek out a living from the harsh terrain is well portrayed. The large family provide plenty of interesting characters who all deal with their new life in different ways. This is a rich and engaging novel that captures the colours and texture of the environment so well. The characters are complex and offer diverse points of view. The story thoughtfully explores the clash of cultures during the pioneering days of South Australia. Well worth reading.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
‘It is my past come to meet me.’
This novel is set in the 1850s, in the Coorong region of South Australia. Salt Creek may be beautiful, but this coastal region is remote from Adelaide and comparatively inhospitable. The land has been opened up to graziers, and this is why the Finch family move there. Stanton Finch has fallen on hard times and hopes to make enough money to repay his debts and return to polite society in Adelaide. His wife never really adjusts to the move. Hester, the main character in the story, is aged sixteen when the story opens. It is Hester’s lot to take increasing levels of responsibility in caring for the large Finch family.
‘My life occupied a small space; it was time that moved: days and weeks and months and seasons and years rolling across me as inevitable as night.’
Disaster follows disaster for the Finch family. Scheme after scheme fail for Stanton Finch. He is driven to make money and repay his debts even as his endeavours tear his family apart. Some of the sons leave, and Hester dreams of a day when she can leave as well. In the background, the Ngarrindjeri people are having their world destroyed. One young boy, Tully, is taken in by the Finches. Tully learns with the Finch children, lives in their home and works on the property. Through Tully, some of the Finch children come to appreciate some elements of indigenous culture. But Tully is never accepted as being equal by Stanton Finch and some of his sons, and this leads to a series of tragedies.
‘Life is so much absence and emptiness and vivid stretches and disconnected fragments when everything happens; things that light up in memory while all around is darkness.’
To say more about the story could ruin it for those intending to read it. I found it a haunting story, almost unbearably sad at times, and beautifully written. While some elements can be predicted, others have an element of surprise. Aspects of the story, and certain of the characters remain with me, and I suspect that this is a novel I will choose to reread.
‘Perhaps we all had things we would rather keep to ourselves.’
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Australia for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel is set in the 1850s, in the Coorong region of South Australia. Salt Creek may be beautiful, but this coastal region is remote from Adelaide and comparatively inhospitable. The land has been opened up to graziers, and this is why the Finch family move there. Stanton Finch has fallen on hard times and hopes to make enough money to repay his debts and return to polite society in Adelaide. His wife never really adjusts to the move. Hester, the main character in the story, is aged sixteen when the story opens. It is Hester’s lot to take increasing levels of responsibility in caring for the large Finch family.
‘My life occupied a small space; it was time that moved: days and weeks and months and seasons and years rolling across me as inevitable as night.’
Disaster follows disaster for the Finch family. Scheme after scheme fail for Stanton Finch. He is driven to make money and repay his debts even as his endeavours tear his family apart. Some of the sons leave, and Hester dreams of a day when she can leave as well. In the background, the Ngarrindjeri people are having their world destroyed. One young boy, Tully, is taken in by the Finches. Tully learns with the Finch children, lives in their home and works on the property. Through Tully, some of the Finch children come to appreciate some elements of indigenous culture. But Tully is never accepted as being equal by Stanton Finch and some of his sons, and this leads to a series of tragedies.
‘Life is so much absence and emptiness and vivid stretches and disconnected fragments when everything happens; things that light up in memory while all around is darkness.’
To say more about the story could ruin it for those intending to read it. I found it a haunting story, almost unbearably sad at times, and beautifully written. While some elements can be predicted, others have an element of surprise. Aspects of the story, and certain of the characters remain with me, and I suspect that this is a novel I will choose to reread.
‘Perhaps we all had things we would rather keep to ourselves.’
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Australia for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith