By Georgia FreeMonday 9 Oct 2023Hope Book ClubBooksReading Time: 2 minutes
In this episode of the Hope Book Club, Georgia and Simone review the critically acclaimed novel After Story, written by Indigenous author and lawyer Larissa Behrendt.
After Story follows the mother-daughter relationship of two Indigenous women – and explores how trauma, hardship and things unsaid can bubble to the surface at unexpected times.
When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother, Della, on a tour of England’s most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past. Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine’s older sister devastated their tight-knit community, but his tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing during the tour.
As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols – including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf – Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.
Simone and Georgia also discuss some more great books written by First Nations authors – as well as resources to bring more diversity to your bookshelf, such as the Blackfulla Bookclub.
Don’t worry if you haven’t read the book, you can still enjoy the podcast. That’s all in this episode of the Hope Book Club – because life’s just better with a book!
You can listen to the full episode in the player above, on the Hope 103.2 app, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to join the Hope Book Club Facebook community.