Mullumbimby
Melissa Lucashenko

Mullumbimby
Melissa Lucashenko
Review
by Amy Vuleta
Melissa Lucashenko’s latest novel depicts life as equal parts cheerful and heartbreaking, mundane and back-breakingly hard. Jo, recently divorced, moves to an old farm in the Byron Bay hinterland – the Bundjalung land of her ancestors. She is a strong, intelligent figure: sharp and funny, with a measured cynicism towards the hippies, tourists and tree-changers who people the area. The tone is richly descriptive, evoking the fierce sense of belonging that Jo feels now that she has returned to country.
A central theme of Mullumbimby is the duality of modern life. The novel depicts the conflict between urban cosmopolitanism and life on the land, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and between traditional and contemporary beliefs. This is mirrored in the parallel story of Twoboy and Laz, a couple of brothers who are pursuing a native title claim, single-mindedly trying to prove traditional ownership of their own ancestral lands.
In reading Mullumbimby, I had the distinct impression of a novel written for an Indigenous audience, first and foremost. As with all Aboriginal art, each viewer will take something different away from it, depending on their own experiences of life and the country in Australia. And so it is with this novel. Its slang and humour reminded me of the town of my North Queensland childhood, and the country described was that of more recent ambling drives between Brisbane and Lismore. At times I felt a cultural cringe at the colloquial and daggy expressions used, but I wonder whether this is the point. While the book is an exploration of ideas of Indigenous belonging and entitlement, I felt as I read that I was being prompted, challenged even, to think about my own place in Australia. Where do I come from? Where do I belong? To what am I entitled, and where do I truly call home?
Amy Vuleta works as a bookseller at Readings St Kilda.
This item is in-stock and will ship in 2-3 business days
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.

Harvest Lingo
$25.00Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Through Old Eyes
$19.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Blacklight: Ten Years of First Nations Storytelling
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Cartwarra or What?: Selected Poems and Short Stories
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

This All Come Back Now: An Anthology of First Nations Speculative Fiction
$32.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation (New Edition)
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Astronomy: Sky Country
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Another Day in the Colony
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams
$32.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Born Into This
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

After Story
$32.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Song of the Crocodile
$32.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Where The Fruit Falls
$27.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Flock: First Nations Stories Then and Now
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Too Much Lip: Winner of the Miles Franklin Award
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The White Girl
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Too Much Lip
Winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019. A dark and funny new novel from the multi-award-winning author of Mullumbimby.
$29.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Mullumbimby
A darkly funny novel of romantic love and cultural warfare from one of Australia's most admired Indigenous voices. When Jo Breen uses her divorce settlement to buy a neglected property in the Byron Bay hinterland, she is hoping...
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...