The story about the women who are exiled to the Australian continent for myriad infractions ranging from theft to prostitution even murder is interesting, poignant, and memorable. The horrible conditions they face during transport and subsequently in prison is sad but it is also very much an important part of the history of this continent. The inclusion of the side story of an aboriginal orphan seemed peripheral and incomplete and did not work for me as part of this story. The story of the horrific treatment of Aboriginal people is an important story that cannot be used as a side story or comparison to that of the "Exiles".
Hi. I am a voracious reader of fiction and non-fiction and would like to hear from other readers. I yearn for world peace and the widespread use of sustainable resources and would like to hear from others who espouse these ideals.
Monday, March 22, 2021
Saturday, March 20, 2021
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
“The world can be changed by a handful of courageous people. Today we fight on behalf of those who are afraid. We fight for a living wage.” A character named Jack, a union organizer, speaks these words near the end of this poignant novel about the horrible advent of the Dust Bowl and the desperate migration of families to California. And this novel certainly describes the devastating consequences of greedy farm owners exploiting their impoverished workers, and with company stores further driving them into a form of slavery. Can the workers be galvanized into fighting for their rights? The main character however is a woman who was denied love by her horrible birth family and only finds love with her unexpected in-laws and her two children. She works fiercely alongside her in-laws to maintain their land and livestock during relentless years of drought and dust storms. Eventually, this love leads her to abandon her home state of Texas and travel to California, seeking a safer, healthier environment for her two children. The underlying theme for this narrative is the strength of this love that drives her life force and quietly impacts those around her. At times, the narrative is relentlessly sad and grim but it also conveys the power of love that drives people to keep struggling, to venture forth to an unknown future, and to embrace dangerous activities to seek justice for their children and in a larger context for others in similar circumstances. This story also represents a truth for today when the rich get ever richer while many workers struggle to raise families on stagnant minimum wages. Eighty years later, people still struggle to survive in a society weighted toward the wealthy. Words penned by the author stick with me as I bid this novel goodbye. “The Four winds have blown us here, people from all across the country, to the very edge of this great land, and now, at last, we make our stand, fight for what we know to be right. We fight for our American dream that it will be possible again” A paean to the future.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore
Poignant historical fiction that reveals the horrific sex slave trade by Chinese Tongs in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Young women and even girls were kidnapped or bought from impoverished families that were assured their daughters would marry well but were actually brought to America to work in brothels. A young woman named Donaldina "Dolly" Cameron is seeking a way to engage in some meaningful activity since she has not yet married like her older siblings and accepts a job to teach young Chinese girls how to sew, with the intent that they can obtain secure employment. She soon learns about the terrible circumstances that have traumatized the young women and girls she encounters at the Occidental Mission House in San Francisco and begins to actively participate in their rescue. A fast, compelling read!
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