Betrayed by her husband, Annabelle Beck retreats from Melbourne to her old family home in tropical North Queensland. There she meets and begins work with Bo Rennie, one of the Jangga tribe.
Annabelle is intrigued by Bo's modest claim that he holds the key to her future, and she sets out with him on a path of recovery that leads back to her childhood and into the Jangga's ancient heartland, where secrets are uncovered which have been buried in her family for a generation. The terrible moral force of these secrets will challenge the possibility of happiness with this man.
It is never easy to predict how a book will be received, but the outcome can be surprising never-the-less. Journey to the Stone Country is a good example of this. Disguised as just another Australian novel, Stone gave us all something worth expressing. Our levels of enjoyment and perception varied just enough to make for a great discussion. Not just on the racial or historical issues that pervaded the book, but also on the author's writing skills, research practice and particularly on how and why an author's views can be embedded into a story.
All these angles make for a great discussion, and everyone who read the book contributed. We did have two members who were unable to nab the book in time for our early December meeting, but through listening Denise was keen to have a go whereas Kathy believed it was not going to be on her Christmas reading list.
By and large comments went something like this;
"I connected easily with the characters"
"Well written"
"Good juxtaposing of the white and aboriginal country situation"
"The main character in this novel is the bush itself"
And ...
"Not well written"
"I didn't find the relationships plausible"
"Too much repetitive description about the bush"
This is just a sample of where our discussion led to, so regardless of scores (ranged from 3-10) it would have to be said that this book is bursting with great discourse material and a must for anyone looking for an authentic Aussie read.
