Your Preview Verdict: Debesa by Cindy Solonec

Your Preview Verdict: Debesa by Cindy Solonec

This extraordinary and heartfelt story chronicles the lives of the Rodriguez family of Debesa Station in the West Kimberley; their livelihood through difficult times, love of family, place and culture, and the challenges of day-to-day living on a small sheep station amid huge pastoral properties.

Spanning four generations from the 1880s when the author’s maternal great-grandfather, Indian deckhand, Jimmy Casim, met and lived with Nigena woman, Lucy Muninga on Yeeda Station near Derby, Debesa centres on the unlikely partnership of Cindy’s parents: Frank Rodriguez, once a Benedictine novice monk from Spain, and Katie Fraser, who had been a novitiate in a very different sort of abbey – a convent for ‘black’ women at Beagle Bay Mission, 130 kilometres north of Broome.

Together, Frank and Katie Rodriguez established Debesa, where Cindy and her three siblings grew up with the rich cultural heritage of their Spanish, Nigena and English ancestors.

Debesa is a sweeping social history of one family’s struggles and triumphs set against the backdrop of the beauty of the West Kimberley.

Read some great reviews from our Preview readers here:

Debesa tells the true story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez and their life on their sheep station in the West Kimberley. I love stories about the outback and this was no exception. With as many ups and downs as a fictional story, Debesa takes a sometimes confronting look at life in the outback from the point of view of our First Nations people. This is a story that is not often heard. It needs to be. Everyone should read this book. Anne, VIC, 5 Stars

This is a wonderful story. I was completely absorbed from the beginning. Not knowing the history of the Nigena people or the Kimberley region I was fascinated. Through the aide of Frank Rodriguez’s diaries, you realise how extremely hardworking, honest and loyal the Rodriguez family were. They carried a positive and determined spirit even through times of hardship. A beautiful book and a story I’m glad has been shared. Loren, NSW, 5 Stars

Debesa: The Story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez is the story of the author, Cindy Solonec’s family. Ms Solonec uses her father Frank’s diaries, interviews with her family and her own recollections, to weave her family’s history, living on the family property, Debesa, in the Kimberley region. She tells of members of her family being removed from their parents, and how her extended Indigenous family remained a presence in her families lives. Very readable and an interesting story of some of our First People’s culture and lives in an intolerant and patronising society. Thank you to Better Reading for an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review. Tracy, VIC, 5 Stars

This is a wonderful story where you are welcomed into a home and a family with amazing mixed heritage. The ties that unite these two cultures run strong and the similarities from opposite sides of the world are touching. Like any real family, there are tales of loss, laughter and of course many shared meals. This is a wonderful introduction for anyone wanting to know more about Indigenous life in the Kimberley. Tina, QLD, 5 Stars

Debesa is a rich family history set in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Ms Solonec starts her family history in the 1880s, when her maternal great-grandfather, Jimmy Casim arrived in Fremantle from India. He moved north, met, and lived with Nigena woman, Lucy Muninga on Yeeda Station near Derby. Her father, Francisco (Frank) Rodriguez, arrived in Fremantle on 17 August 1937 as a Benedictine novitiate. He met Katie Fraser, formerly a novitiate at a convent for ‘black’ women, in 1946 and they married later that year. Not everyone supported their marriage. In Australia in the 1940s interracial marriages were opposed by many. But from 1946 until Katie’s death in 1994, Frank and Katie worked together. They worked hard, raised a family, established their small sheep station at Debesa and remained connected to their own cultures. This is an uplifting story of love, of cultural difference, of devotion and hard work set against a background of social challenge and change. Ms Solonec writes of two mutually respectful people working together to provide the best they could for their family and their community. An inspirational story drawn from Frank Rodriguez’s diaries, research and family interviews conducted by Ms Solonec. Jennifer, ACT, 5 Stars

Thank you to Better Reading and Magabala Books for an ARC of this debut book by author, Cindy Solonec. This book is a social history spanning four generations of the author’s mixed-race family of Indian, Spanish, English and Aboriginal heritage – beginning in the 1880s and continuing through the 1940s and into the 21st Century. The author herself described the book as creative Non-Fiction. Her writing of this story is loosely based on her PhD thesis which she completed in 2016. Since then she has done more research into her ancestry and has added to her thesis work in order to create this very enjoyable story for a wider general public. Cindy has written it in the first person and has dropped a lot of the academic jargon which makes it an easy but very interesting story to read. It is also written from Aboriginal perspectives. The preface gives the background to the story which is largely focussed on the love story between her parents, Frank Rodriguez who emigrated from Gracia in Spain and was once a Benedictine Novice monk at New Norcia, and Katie Fraser, an Aboriginal woman who was for a time a novitiate at a Convent for “Black” women at Beagle Bay Mission, north of Broome. They were married in 1946 and at that time in Australia interracial marriages were opposed by many. Cindy and her three siblings grew up on Debesa, which means “small paddock” and the cover of the book shows a photo of the shearing shed on the property. I enjoyed the book and especially the parts relating to the author’s Aboriginal heritage and the problems associated with being a marginalised people. Ruth, WA, 4 Stars

Cindy Solonec has written a beautiful and heartfelt family memoir that honours the lives of her parents and grandparents. Debesa is also an important social history of the West Kimberley, the interaction of the Nigena people and the pastoralists, and the inexorable impacts of dispossession. It’s also about family, faith, culture, tradition and life in a remote region. I would have loved to have a map to follow the travels of the family/s from the Kimberley to Broome, Derby and the missions. It’s been a privilege to read Debesa. I loved the look and feel of Debesa, the cover art, the ‘soft’ cover, the paper stock and the typeset. Debesa is the complete package. Terese, TAS, 4 Stars

I love reading family histories and Debesa is this and so much more. It is the story of multiple generations of Frank and Katie Rodriguez’s families who all lived and worked in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Debesa gives us a glimpse of their lives which includes the Indigenous heritage of the area and the role of new settlers to the area. Cindy Solonec’s family history is very much a social history of the region and her access to the stories of people that are not usually recorded in official records gives the reader a valuable insight into how different cultures can blend but also how Indigenous inhabitants have had to fight to keep their culture alive. Cindy credits her parent’s story; faithfully recorded by her father in his diaries and recorded in her mother’s oral history; as her parent’s legacy and a treasured gift. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the social history of Australia and the injustices suffered by marginalised groups, particularly the Indigenous people. Debesa tells the story of a family who is a mixture of Nigena, Spanish and English cultures and remain true to the heritage of our country. Janine, VIC, 4 Stars

Debesa is the fascinating family history of Cindy Solonec’s family, based in the West Kimberley region of WA. It began as her PhD and was then published in a book form. Debesa is the name of her family’s sheep station and it’s there that much of the story is set. It’s ultimately a personal story, touching on Indigenous culture, the Stolen Generations, religion and family relationships. As a white woman from the east coast, the story was far removed from my life experiences. In fact, I knew nothing of the Kimberley region, so found this historical perspective really interesting. Cindy has also included photos, so the reader feels like they know Frank and Katie, her parents. It’s an easy read and the personal stories and reflections, told by both her parents, take away that “history book” feel. Maree, QLD, 4 Stars

An interesting telling of the Kimberley early history giving the reader an insight into life in the early part of last century. A fastening tale of the merging of different cultures set against the backdrop of outback Australia. It highlights the feelings, hopes and fears, the expectations, victories and failures of the people there. It highlights how they overcame the hardships by creating a lifestyle suited to the times. Julie, NSW, 4 Stars

I was excited to start this book, as my knowledge of Western Australia’s history is terribly inadequate. It took a couple of chapters for me to warm up to the book, as the chapters detailed the history of family members not in living memory, and it showed in the dryness of the text. However, I persevered, and I could not put the book down! The book focuses on the diaries of author Cindy Solonec’s father, Francisco, a Spaniard who immigrated to Australia in the 1930s to train as a priest. Instead of becoming a priest, he married Katie Fraser, an Indigenous woman raised in a Catholic convent. As the book details their life, it shows the many hardships the family faced, and how they overcame them. Not only did the family have to deal with the hardships of farming (such as drought, livestock issues), but also the awful political views of the time regarding Indigenous Australians and immigrants. This book was a great history lesson, and Cindy’s love for her family really flowed into the words on the page, and vividly painted a picture of their life. Highly recommend this book to any Australian. Catherine, QLD, 4 Stars

I was pleasantly surprised by Debesa. I don’t generally read biographies however I found Cindy Solonec’s writing engaging and the story of her ancestors interesting. I know nothing of the Kimberley region and reading about the history of the area was captivating. Cindy Solonec includes a rich history of the Kimberley region including the Stolen Generations and the ill-treatment of the Aboriginal people. Much of her family history is by word of mouth passed down from generation to generation. The added use of her father’s diaries, which he kept dating back to the 1940’s, give a deep basis of fact whilst Cindy Solonec uses some degree of speculation on some areas of people’s emotions and conversations. This is a wonderful story about family, the importance of heritage and the connection to Country. The extensive Bibliography shows the amount of research that went into this heartfelt story. Veronica, NSW, 4 Stars

Unspeakable cruelty was inflicted upon the poor children and parents of the Indigenous and “half caste” population of the Kimberley and outback regions of Australia in the history of this country. With the help of her father’s diaries and her extended family members, the author was able to piece together the story of how her parents overcame many difficulties to ultimately, bravely, forge a good life for themselves and their children. The fact that the First Peoples of the country were granted the ‘right’ to apply for Australian citizenship (with conditions) in 1944, I had not realised and found very hard to grasp. I think this is a book that everyone should read in order to understand in just a very small way some of what the Indigenous people have had to endure. Sue, NSW, 4 Stars

There is an extraordinary mix of races and cultures in the population of the West Kimberley region of Australia. As well as being descended from the Indigenous Nigena (or Nyika) people, author Cindy’s heritage also includes Spanish, Indian and English. Primarily, this is the amazing love story of Cindy’s parents; her father being Frank Rodriguez who had once been at Benedictine novice monk at New Norcia and her mother, Katie Fraser, a novitiate in a convent for “black” women at Beagle Bay. How they came together and formed a life partnership filled with difficulties, struggle and hardship but always firmly supported by their close and extended family makes for both enlightening and rewarding reading. The historical and geographical background of a land that can be harsh and unforgiving is fascinating for anyone unfamiliar with this region and/or the cruel, draconian Australian laws that were in place in regard to Aboriginals and those of mixed race until comparatively recent times. How Cindy’s family triumphed above intolerance and unfair treatment provides a beacon of hope in how well mixed races and cultures can thrive given the right opportunities. This is a book that all Australians need to read. Marina, VIC, 4 Stars

Debesa is the history lesson that I feel Australian classrooms should be having at this time of cultural reckoning. Told through the eyes of Cindy Solonec, this book spans four generations of her family from the 1880s to 2011. The focus is on the unlikely relationship of her parents, Frank Rodriguez, once a Spanish Benedictine novice monk, and Katie Fraser, a woman of Aboriginal and Indian descent who had been a novitiate in a convent for ‘black’ women in Western Australia. Using her father’s diaries, Solonec traces the cultural heritage of her family’s Spanish, Aboriginal and English ancestors. She charts their lives as they face the challenges and heartbreak of the Stolen Generations, attachment to Country and a clash of cultures and religions. Shocking injustices and insights are revealed, such as the fact that Aboriginals in Western Australia became eligible to apply for Australian citizenship in 1944, despite their 80,000+ years as Australia’s First Peoples. Even then, it came with conditions. Mixed descent and white people were paid in cash, while Aboriginal people were paid in flour, sugar and tea. Solonec also reports instances where first peoples had to reject their Aboriginality to receive certain privileges. And on it goes! Historical photos appear throughout, bringing life to the stories, the people and the landscape. Ultimately, this is the fascinating story of a forbidden love that survived a harsh environment and harsh laws of the day to create a beautiful legacy for the family left behind. If you enjoy history, you’ll devour this. Eynas, SA, 4 Stars

Thanks to Better Reading for my copy of Debesa by Cindy Solonec. Debesa is the story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez’s lives in the Nigena area of the West Kimberley. Basically about Frank and Katie, the story starts with the removal of Katie’s grandparents in 1909 and follows the family up to Frank’s death in 2011. Cindy used her father’s diaries and interviewed remaining relatives and friends to write Debesa. Frank, an immigrant Spaniard, and Katie, of mixed-descent Indigenous heritage, lived a life dedicated to family and their relevant cultures. They both had extraordinarily strong ties to the Catholic community of Derby and West Kimberley as well as New Norcia and Beagle Bay missions. Debesa was an informative and easy to read history of the Rodriguez clan. Their support of each other and their friends was exemplary. Although they were financially independent, they were by no means rich, yet they supported numerous family members and their community. They were proud hard-working folk looking to provide their children and many relatives with a better life. I recommend this book to all who are interested in the history of the Kimberley and the role our Indigenous peoples played in that development. Annette, ACT, 4 Stars

I enjoyed reading this social and family history about a region of Australia I know little about, the Kimberley in Western Australia. The author tells the story of her family going back a couple of generations, and Debesa was the name her father gave to a leasehold they held for some years. Her father is Spanish and her mother is Aboriginal, both had to apply for Australian citizenship before they could purchase land! The racist policies of the time (from forced removal of children to no pay for Indigenous workers etc.) are shown and their effects on the family and its heritage. Janelle, NSW, 4 Stars

Debesa is a very readable social and family history. Using her father’s diaries as a starting point, the author tells her family’s lives in the Kimberly region in Western Australia. It’s detailed and informative. JG, NSW, 4 Stars

What a wonderful tribute to this amazing family. A chronical of how life was in the Kimberley since settlement of the white people in this region. The role of the Missionaries to the area, the lifestyle and work of the people of the area are all great insights into how life was lived. The way the extended families looked after each other in these communities is remarkable. An unlikely pairing of a Nigena woman, who for a short time was part of a convent for ‘black women’, and her husband who was for a period of time a Benedictine monk. Religion was to remain a focal point of their lives as they set about making a better life for their family. Their rich and rewarding life was not without hardship but despite this, they continued on. Their legacy is this book which has been written by their daughter. We are all richer for the sharing of such a personal experience. Lisa, SA, 3 Stars

Land-grabbing pastoralists armed with guns, kidnapping of mixed-race children by police ‘protectors’, culture-robbing missionaries armed with prayer – Debesa is as much a social history of Western Australia’s Kimberley region as it is the story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez. Cindy Solonec’s labour of love is full of painstakingly researched historical facts obtained from native welfare files, Frank’s diary, oral histories and including family photos it is equally a snapshot full of love of family, culture and Country. Raised on a mission, 17 year old Katie Fraser entered formal religious life at a time when job opportunities and status were limited for mixed race people. But life in the ‘black’ convent proved untenable, especially when she and her fellow novitiates were regarded as lesser children of God. Young Frank had herded sheep to pasture (Debesa in Galician) but as the Spanish Civil War was brewing his family sent the 13 year old to a Benedictine monastery. He was recruited to join the monks abroad, released from his strict vows in 1941 and offered a job at Liveringa Station… where Katie arrived just days later. Her marriage proposal was accepted by Frank and they were married within the year with the church’s blessing, but not the State’s as neither were legally considered Australian citizens! In 1951 Frank bought the lease for Backland Downs, renamed it Debesa, and raised sheep and his family. Located on Nigena country, there was a sense of belonging for extended family ‘countrimin’ and the local hills a reminder of the Galician mountains. Anita, QLD, 3 Stars

I don’t normally read biographies as I don’t really enjoy them but Cindy’s story of her family was very interesting and filled with so many facts I did not know and so I did find Debesa an enjoyable read. Rachel, QLD, 3 Stars

I found Debesa a little hard reading and slow going at first, but as the book went in it got more easy and interesting. We all need to read stories like this to understand how Frank and Katie survived and lived in the harsh Australian outback. This is a must read. Karen, QLD, 3 Stars

An intriguing look at an extremely rich cultural and spiritual family tree, spanning generations. Solonec details vividly the West Kimberley landscape whilst sharing the many trials and tribulations of her family unit. It is clear that much research and effort has gone into reproducing her families story. Rebecca, NSW, 3 Stars

This was a pleasant read even though I don’t normally read biographies or much non-fiction. The story was well researched by the author, by her father’s diaries and it was nice to see the black and white photos to enhance the plot. I have to say though that unfortunately it didn’t really ‘grab’ me from the start. There’s lots of great reviews for this book so I just think that this time, this particular one, just wasn’t ‘my cup of tea’. Nicola, QLD, 2 Stars

Acknowledgment of Cultural Fund support

Better Reading acknowledges the support provided by Copyright Agency for us to promote Debesa.

Reviews

A Sweeping Family Saga: Read an Extract from Debesa by Dr. Cindy Solonec

Review | Extract

20 May 2021

A Sweeping Family Saga: Read an Extract from Debesa by Dr. Cindy Solonec

    Inspiring and Powerful: Read our Review of Debesa by Cindy Solonec

    Review | Our Review

    18 May 2021

    Inspiring and Powerful: Read our Review of Debesa by Cindy Solonec

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        Publisher details

        Debesa
        Author
        Cindy Solonec
        Publisher
        Magabala Books
        Genre
        Fiction
        Released
        01 May, 2021
        ISBN
        9781925936001

        Synopsis

        This extraordinary and heartfelt story chronicles the lives of the Rodriguez family of Debesa Station in the West Kimberley; their livelihood through difficult times, love of family, place and culture, and the challenges of day-to-day living on a small sheep station amid huge pastoral properties. Spanning four generations from the 1880s when the author’s maternal great-grandfather, Indian deckhand, Jimmy Casim, met and lived with Nigena woman, Lucy Muninga on Yeeda Station near Derby, Debesa centres on the unlikely partnership of Cindy’s parents: Frank Rodriguez, once a Benedictine novice monk from Spain, and Katie Fraser, who had been a novitiate in a very different sort of abbey – a convent for ‘black’ women at Beagle Bay Mission, 130 kilometres north of Broome. Together, Frank and Katie Rodriguez established Debesa, where Cindy and her three siblings grew up with the rich cultural heritage of their Spanish, Nigena and English ancestors.
        Cindy Solonec
        About the author

        Cindy Solonec

        Dr Cindy Solonec, a Nigena (Nyikina) woman from the West Kimberley, is married with two daughters and five grandchildren. She graduated with a PhD in History from UWA in 2016 and Debesa is a rewriting of her thesis that explored a social history in the West Kimberley based on the way her parents and extended family lived during the mid-1900s. As a university sessional staff member, Cindy lectures and tutors in addressing Aboriginal themes. She is a member of the History Council of Western Australia and she plays violin with Encore, a seniors’ all-strings orchestra.

        Books by Cindy Solonec

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        1. Jackie Smith says:

          A poorly written piece and missed opportunity to provide a balanced and objective story about living in the north west. A worrying aspect of the book is the desire to portray indigenous people as victims and all others as perpetrators of violence. However the most concerning aspect is that someone who has benefited from a tax funded education system remains so ill informed and prejudice towards non-indigenous people. 1/2 out of 5