When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice.
Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny. Together they care for obstinate centenarian Granny Eddie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives.
In this brilliant epic, Melissa Lucashenko torches Queensland’s colonial myths, while reimagining an Australian future.
Lucashenko writes a fierce, no-holds-barred truth that is simultaneously full of generosity and a hopeful belief in humanity. An Aboriginal author of Bundjalung and European heritage, she was already one of Australia’s great writers, with a Walkley and a Miles Franklin Literary Award under her belt. Edenglassie well and truly cements her status as a voice for our times.
Edenglassie weaves together two timelines, shifting between the 1850s and 2024. Both timelines are populated with a fantastic cast of characters. Through their experiences, we come to a new and nuanced understanding of contemporary Australia, Indigenous culture and the harrowing realities of colonisation. Edenglassie is loaded with historical insight – an author’s note at the back of the book distinguishes the characters and events that have been drawn from history from those that Lucashenko has invented. Lucashenko brings to light a past that has long been stifled in the mainstream Australian retelling.
I am grateful to Lucashenko for sharing this insightful rebuttal – and for making it so rewarding and accessible for her readers. Rewarding, because while Edenglassie details harrowing events in a necessarily unflinching fashion, it is also an immensely warm and life-affirming read. In our present-day timeline, there’s a delightful will-they-won’t-they tension between Winona and Dr Johnny, complete with some of the best banter I’ve ever read. And we have determined Granny Eddie, at times high on medication but always dropping the truth – a reminder to listen well when Elders speak. The historic timeline is steeped in love: romantic love, love for Country, familial love and love between friends. Mulanyin’s coming-of-age is a beautiful exploration of what it means to move from boyhood to manhood with humility and grace.
Edenglassie is a rich tapestry of so many huge themes, all so astutely handled. If I had to pick one that stands out to me, it is that of looking to the future while holding the past close. Lucashenko shows us how this is done in this thoroughly researched dual-timeline narrative, and in the journeys of the characters it contains. She proves that moving forward is never about forgetting; rather, it is about drawing on the nourishment of the past, learning from its atrocities, and listening to the stories of the Elders who have lived it.
For me, as a white Australian, reading Lucashenko’s work is a challenge, a privilege and a mind-opening experience. This book is heartbreaking, heartwarming, hilarious, surprising and absolutely unforgettable. Edenglassie should be compulsory reading for all Australians. It will probably be your read of the year.
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