Nanberry by Jackie French

~An Aussie Review ~
Happy Australia Day!

The blurb...

It's 1789, and as the new colony in Sydney Cove is 
established, Surgeon John White defies convention 
and adopts Nanberry, an Aboriginal boy, to raise as 
his son. Nanberry is clever and uses his unique gifts as an interpreter to bridge the two worlds he lives in. With his white brother, Andrew, he witnesses the struggles of the colonists to keep their precarious grip on a hostile wilderness. And yet he is haunted by the memories of the Cadigal warriors who will one day come to claim him as one of their own. This true story follows the brothers as they make their way in the world - one as a sailor, serving in the Royal Navy, the other a hero of the Battle of Waterloo. No less incredible is the enduring love between the gentleman surgeon and the convict girl, saved from the death penalty, to become a great lady in her own right. (copied directly from Goodreads)

Thoughts while reading….

I cannot image how invaded the Aborigines would have felt. I cannot image myself living in Australia during the late 1700s. I appreciate and admire the people who came to Australia, who respected the land they had come to and the people who lived here first. 

The stigma of being a convict. It has taken generations for some families to leave their convict history in the past. I love that Australia isn’t divided by class. A ‘Gentleman’ can fall in love with anyone and marry her. A person, who has been in jail, can serve time, repent and make a new life and isn’t forever labelled a jailbird. (I hope)

When I think back to the way things were run, especially when the Governor left the country and the law was left the hands of the drunken New South Wales Corps, I’m thankful for the legal system we have in place now.

This is a Young Adult book. I highly recommend it for anyone 13 to 100. There are themes of abuse, mistresses, alcoholism and violence – so use parental discretion.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nanberry by Jackie French.  It is a compelling story to read. 

Reading my way through 2012 with the Australian Women Writers Challenge