Paris savages / Katherine Johnson.
Publication details: Edgecliff, NSW : Ventura Press, 2019.Description: 361 pages ; 24 cmISBN:- 9781925384703
- 1871-1918
- Entertainers -- Australia -- Fiction
- Aboriginal Australians -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction
- Aboriginal Australians
- Scientists
- Voyages and travels
- Australian fiction -- 21st century
- Aboriginal Australians -- Europe -- Fiction
- Scientists -- Fiction
- Voyages and travels -- Fiction
- Australian fiction
- Europe
- Europe -- History -- 1871-1918 -- Fiction
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander content
- Australian
- A823.4 23
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Fiction - Historical | JOH | Available | 070347 |
Includes bibliographical references.
Based on a true story, Paris Savages takes us from colonised Australia to the heart of Europe in 1882, where three young Aboriginal people were taken to perform for mass entertainment. On beautiful Fraser Island, the population of the Badtjala people is in sharp decline following a run of brutal massacres. When German man Louis Müller offers to sail eighteen-year-old Bonny to Europe in the hope of seeking help from the Queen of England - in exchange for performing to huge crowds - the brave and headstrong Bonny agrees. Accompanied by twenty two-year-old Jurano and Jurano's fifteen-year-old niece, Dorondera, Müller's beautiful yet grieving daughter Hilda agrees to help her father with the journey, but soon finds herself becoming entranced by Bonny. While crowds in Europe are enthusiastic to see the unique dances, singing, fights, and pole climbing from the oldest culture in the world, the attention is relentless, and the fascination of scientists intrusive. Bonny is not a passive victim, and starts to earn money from mocking the crowd, but when disaster strikes, he must find a way to return home. A story of love, hardship, spirituality, culture and the fight against injustice, Paris Savages brings a little known part of history to blazing life for the first time, from one of Australia's most promising novelists.