Scan barcode
A review by miserable_biscuit
Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
4.0
There are some books that surprise you with their unexpected intensity. They come out of nowhere to hit you so deeply to the core and draw you in to their world so completely that you feel as if you have become a part of it yourself. SALT CREEK is one such book. It's a fantastic novel of longing, mistakes, greed, dispossession, and, of course, love.
Characters are the heart of any novel, and SALT CREEK is no different. The characters and their relationships with one another were a delight to experience. Some were so detestable that I would grimace or almost shout with frustration, and there were equally evocative moments of pure delight and happiness. These moments demonstrated Treloar's great skill as a writer.
The background to the main act of the Finch family at Salt Creek is the slow but inevitable act of Indigenous dispossession. Treloar rarely makes this issue front and centre to the reader, but never lets it disappear entirely from the reader's mind. She presents the subject almost without judgement, inviting the reader to see the issue as it is. I think this has a greater chance of having an impact on the reader than straight moralising would. The reader witnesses the devastating impact of colonisation and ethnocentrism, knowing the end result, and must come to their own conclusion.
While it can be a bit difficult to get through the first quarter or so of the book, I think it's worth it for the reader to persevere. Here is a very poignant, very real account of the disintegration of a family, and the destruction of a people. It's a very good book, and I hope that a lot of people read and appreciate it.
Characters are the heart of any novel, and SALT CREEK is no different. The characters and their relationships with one another were a delight to experience. Some were so detestable that I would grimace or almost shout with frustration, and there were equally evocative moments of pure delight and happiness. These moments demonstrated Treloar's great skill as a writer.
The background to the main act of the Finch family at Salt Creek is the slow but inevitable act of Indigenous dispossession. Treloar rarely makes this issue front and centre to the reader, but never lets it disappear entirely from the reader's mind. She presents the subject almost without judgement, inviting the reader to see the issue as it is. I think this has a greater chance of having an impact on the reader than straight moralising would. The reader witnesses the devastating impact of colonisation and ethnocentrism, knowing the end result, and must come to their own conclusion.
While it can be a bit difficult to get through the first quarter or so of the book, I think it's worth it for the reader to persevere. Here is a very poignant, very real account of the disintegration of a family, and the destruction of a people. It's a very good book, and I hope that a lot of people read and appreciate it.