Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760631628
(Age: Older teens and young adults) Highly recommended. 9/10.
Themes: Crime, thriller, spiritual story. This is a book for those
who enjoy exciting fiction with twists and turns and those who have
an open mind. Nothing is quite as you start to think when working
through the novel through the minds, thoughts and experiences of
Beth Teller and Isobel Catching. Both young girls are Aboriginal and
they both have and share a spirituality which is beautifully
depicted. Their spirituality and those of the tribal women of the
past is very credible, strong and serene. It brings a sense of
another dimension which exists and can possibly be accepted by even
the most skeptical non-believer of anything that cannot be explained
by logic and science.
Beth struggles to stay in "the world of now" in order to support her
grieving father. She is a lost soul who is tied to the physical
dimension but realizes that she needs to move on to the world that
she belongs to. Her father is a detective who is in the midst of
solving a murder and the circumstances of a tragic fire in a
children's home. Only he can see and hear Beth (or is he??), but he
knows that this ghost and his need for the ghost is tormenting him
from accepting what cannot be changed and hence making the most of
his life and his instinct to reach out to his wonderful extended
family.
Isobel Catching has suffered more than most people can endure.
Throughout the novel she remains tough, elusive and a mystery, yet
it is Isobel who helps Beth's father find clues, seek answers about
the terrible and shocking circumstances that have been perpetuated
in the small rural country town. In the colonial past, recent past
and present time, the aboriginal community lack a voice to defend
themselves and seek justice, hence Isobel is the protagonist who
speaks out, who struggles to make the injustices experienced by
present and past aboriginal women heard, understood and fought for.
Isobel has paid a heavy price but she is strong - a strong young
woman who is descended from strong women who transfer their gentle
power and wisdom through spiritual connections and well-remembered
stories.
About the Author - Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina.
Brother and sister authors who are Aboriginal Palyku from the
Pilbara region, North Western Australia. This novel is their first
joint effort writing a young adult fiction. They have magically
woven fiction prose with story-telling in simple language and
artistically elegant poetry.
Maria Burford