Week 1: The White Earth by Andrew McGahan (Soho Press, 2004. Paperback)
I originally picked up this book for my summer 2009 trip to Australia. On every trip I take, I try to read novels relevant to where I’m traveling. I came across this novel because in 2005 it won the Miles Franklin Award, an highly regarded literary prize that (according to their website) “It is awarded for the novel of the year which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases.” In preparation for my travel, though, I picked up too many books to read during my trip. My trip was only a few months ago, so I hoped that reading this novel now would still keep those experiences fresh in my mind.
The White Earth is told from the perspective of two different characters–William, an 8-year old boy and the eccentric uncle, John McIvor, that takes in William and his mother after his father dies in a tragic fire on the family farm. They all live in the crumbling Kuran house, the sole remains of the White family estate set in the Australian outback. John and his father worked for the White family when John was young; his father working under the assumption that one day John would marry the daughter of the White family and inherit the home, the land, and the prestige of White family. But when that daughter destroyed that dream by firing McIvor and selling off the home and land, the seeds were planted for the McIvor family’s driving obsession to possess the White home.
The novel interweaves John’s life, as he marries, has a family, and through his expanding agricultural lands is finally able to purchase the White home. By the time William has arrived, though, John has lost his family and is leading the grassroots opposition to the national land law that he believes will undermine landowners rights. He takes William under his wing, hoping that by teaching William his views, William can be his heir and not his estranged daughter.
The most appealing aspect of the story for me, is the relationship between William and John. Through William’s eyes, we see this eccentric yet charming father figure that draws William into his world; and we see how John’s childhood dreams have corrupted his life. Several tragedies in his life (including one horrific assault on his daughter) compile the demons that stalk John, epitomized by a recurring image of a burning man.
I appreciated the atmosphere of the book–from the landscapes to the characters. The novel begins with a clear gothic tone, from the crumbling mansion to the untrustworthy housekeeper. The central love of this novel that fuels the corruption of the main characters is not between people but between a vision of the Australian outback and the early white settlers that worked the land. This vision, though, is poisoned by the aboriginal natives that had to be moved to make room for those whites.
For most of the novel, the place of the aboriginals in this story bothered me. They were minor components of the story, until the end, when the novel becomes a murder mystery with the aboriginals taking front and center. While I appreciated how this murder mystery portrayed the violence of John’s obsession with the White home, it didn’t give voice to the aboriginal. They were symbolic to the story, but it avoided truly dealing with the cultural conflicts that underlined the settler’s ambitions.
I would recommend this novel, for an introduction to the landscape of the Australian outback; for the how the story is told through William’s eyes; and for presentation of John’s complex character, whom we want to like but still doubt his motives. McGahan tells a compelling story, that touches on the conflicts with which Australia still struggles.
Next week. . . The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman.