Mystery and Banjo were happily pulling apart Port Elliot as we all gathered at McLassie’s place for our September meeting. Barb was an apology and we all wait to hear that her airsacs are filling up regularly again (a pox on pollen we all thought). After avoiding her classy new paintwork, McLassie settled us down around 7.15 and then led us down the historical pathway from all parts of the globe to the Eureka Stockade in 1854 with her choice ‘The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka’.
Her overview covered author Claire Wright’s background, the research needed to pull together the book (one of a trilogy), and McLassie’s decision to choose the book. Her own reflection on her choice was in the end ambiguous – important to read but more of a textbook than a great read.
We all agreed that the reason for McLassie’s choice was well grounded - inspired by the torchlights shining on gender equality in recent months and years (especially in Australian politics but elsewhere as well). The book told many stories about disenfranchised people from many places, making perilous sea journeys, then walking to the goldfields to try and find a life worth living. It was a book about immigration, hardship, suffering, making do, and rebelling against authority – and especially about the heroic women who have been hidden in historical accounts of the Eureka Stockade. Wright drew parallels with women becoming politically mobilised elsewhere around the time (French Revolution and later, Britain, Europe), and argued that the legend of the Eureka Stockade being the ‘birthplace’ of democracy in Australia does not account for the important role of half the population of Ballarat at the time. Her argument was that women not only provided the economic backbone of the settlement, but some were at the Stockade and contributed to the fight as well – and they have been well hidden by history.
Most of us thought the book would have been improved by focussing on the stories of a few at the goldfield – rather than the snippets of information we learnt about many of the settlers. Most of our comments drew on the slim knowledge gained from our Australian history classes of the 1960s and included the fact that no one from China made an appearance in the book (given the road from Robe was well travelled). But the book was unapologetically about women and their part in the social fabric of colonial Ballarat and the uprising. While a good read it wasn’t – an important book it was. Perhaps not the Forgotten Rebels, but the hidden rebels of history – as it has ever been so. (Come on down Felix Mendelssohn said Cherrie, and we can all add many others such as the film Hidden Figures).
We moved on from Australia in 1854 to Australia in 2000’s and Slovenia/Egypt in the 1930’s through our next book, Marg’s choice - The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen, by Lotty’s grand-daughter, Krissy Kneen. Drawn to the choice because it was a story of immigration, Marg introduced us to this unusual book – a search for family and belonging involving dragons, DragonHall in outback Queensland, mysteries in Slovenia, trauma and revelations in Egypt – and then there was the author sitting in the middle of everything writing about her own insecurities and being an outsider. It was easy to not believe all of the stories told in the book (dragons aside - we all believed that one!) – but Marg’s judicious research demonstrated otherwise.
Sprinkling her matriarchal grandmother’s ashes in 3 places as she somewhat defiantly travelled through her grandmother’s past, it was storytelling verging on fairytale verging on memoir. Poetry was also infused into the narrative at times further complicating the book’s literary jumble. It ultimately told a story of ancestors, how we can’t escape the past, and maybe coming to terms with ourselves in a complex world (I’m not so sure about the last one – KK was pretty mixed up!). Some of us weren’t convinced however. It wasn’t an easy read and for some it was frustrating to have the author place herself at the front of the narrative at times. But we were captivated by Mog’s discussion about trauma and how it can pass from one generation to another – which seemed to be another line put forward in this book. Yes, there is always a silver lining, though some of us are still looking for it with this one.
A welcome relief was the special healthy but ‘not quite’ chocolate cake a la Marg and the social goss, including outrage at the news of payment of Porter’s legal fees by a blind trust – with consensus that even Blind Freddy could have picked this was simply not on.
Before moving on to our next meeting, it must be said that everyone has their fingers crossed for Megan and her next appointment with the specialist when a treatment plan will be outlined to her and Andrew – we all hope the road is as smooth as it possibly can be, and be assured we FnB’s are here on call to do whatever we can to make it easier.
Next meeting is scheduled for Friday 5 November 2021, with lunch at Hindmarsh Valley. A reccy email will be sent closer to the time to check the time/day change still works – if not, another Wednesday evening will be picked (maybe 10th). So stay tuned. Whenever we meet, the book selections are
Julie: Lapsed, by Monica Dux
Sue: Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
And as it was suggested K Ishiguro is worth listening to about his book, here is the link to the ABC interview with him about KandtheS (starts off with his interview then goes on to interviews with another author).
https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/rn/podcast/2021/03/bhb_20210301.mp3 for those interested in reading the book, and also those not so much.
Now for something completely different - with thanks to Roy, Pierre and Kathy
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