Book Review: Nanberry - Black brother White

Pic courtesy harpercollins.com.au

Nanberry
Black Brother White
Written by Jackie French
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
YA

It is the story of Nanberry, the 9yr old Eora (aborigine) boy whose life takes an unexpected turn when smallpox brought into Australia by the First Fleet carrying convicts wipes out almost his entire tribe. Surgeon John White, the fleet's surgeon, adopts him as a son, much to the chagrin of his housekeeper, who is surprised to realise that the 'native' is as much a human being as she is!

The rest of the book is a narrative told in the first person by the different characters.

John White, the surgeon of the First Fleet, and later at the newfound colony. A good man of strong convictions and a thirst for knowledge.

Rachel Turner, who survived a wrongly given death sentence and deportation to the convict colony. Who has rather genteel origins, and works as Surgeon White's housekeeper, and later becomes his emotional anchor and mother of his son, Andrew. Who later becomes one of the richest and well-loved women in Australia.

Nanberry himself- the black brother, who, blossoms under the love and care showered on him by his foster father Surgeon White, and Rachel, but is loath to relinquish his roots, and is unable to quite become the 'English gentleman' that his foster father wanted him to become. Especially after he finds himself a target of the other white people's prejudice.

Andrew White, the son, the white brother, who gets a privileged education in England, and becomes a hero in the battle against Napoleon.

Which, along with a handful more of characters, both English and Eora, makes for a kaleidoscope of emotions, motives, actions, stretching across a period of history from the first Bitish settlement in Australia in 1788 to after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. A piece of history that is in many ways still taking a shape. We see the arrogance of the Europeans in their 'finders-keepers-owners' attitude which has shaped much of the history of colonisation. "Britain did not recognise the country as being inhabited as the natives did not cultivate the land, and were, therefore, 'uncivilized'. " We see the reasoning they used in their ruthless decimation of the original inhabitants of the Australian continent- the aborigines- and their relentless claiming of the land.

We see the utter bewilderment of the Eora who did not have the concept of  individual ownership of land and resources- through the voice of Nanberry Buckenau. Who, although fostered by an exceptionally enlightened man for his times, keeps his roots, and returns to his people and their ways from time to time. Even as a child, he refuses to answer to the English name given to him by his foster father, and responds only to his rightful name, Nanberry.

A piece of history that we know really took place, as there are written records of it. All the characters really lived, even Nanberry about whom there are records researched and listed in the bibliography by the author, Jackie French, whose book for children 'Diary of a Wombat' has been reviewed by me earlier. She traces her mother-in-law's ancestry back to the family into which one of Andrew White's daughters married.

In an extensive afterword, she says, "All history books are detective stories, and history writers must track down information and put it together exactly as a detective does....The events in this book are as true as I can make them. The first decades of the colony were an extraordinary and fascinating time. But there comes a point where a historian and author has to say, 'I don't know'. "


"Neither the English nor the Eora understood each other. In most cases, perhaps, they didn't want to...To me, now, Nanberry (Nanbree / Nanbaree in the records found) and Andrew White seem to be the first modern Australians, triumphantly accepting both sides of their heritage."

I will be entering this review for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge under Australasia, and for the Reading the World Challenge 2011 over at Papertigers.

Of Mockingbirds and Harry

Two things lead to my writing this post.

One: I recently re-read for the nth time TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
Written by Harper Lee.
This edition published by Arrow publications.
Ages: young adult.

Image: Courtesy Flipkart.

The book was published on 11th July 1960, the only book written by Harper Lee, and will complete 50 years. It is an iconic book, which should be required reading for everyone above 16yrs. I first read it as a teen, and at every reading, I learn something new, both about the book, and about myself.

The story is set in Alabama, USA, or the Deep South as it was called, in the 1930s. Racial problems were the norm. Atticus Finch is a white lawyer, who is the only person with the courage to defend in court Tom Robinson, a coloured man charged with raping a white woman. Tom claims that he is innocent, and Atticus believes he is, as he knows him very well. It is just his word against that of a white woman and her father. In the end, as racial matters stand, the jury rules against Tom. While being shifted to another jail, now as a convicted man, he makes an attempt to escape, and is killed by the sheriff's men.

The story is told from the point of view of Scout, Atticus' 8yr old daughter, her brother Jem, 4 years older than her, and a neighbouring child, Dill. The book is said to be autobiographical, with Scout being the young Harper Lee. Their mother is dead, and they are being brought up by Atticus with help from the coloured housekeeper, Calpurnia, who is more than just a housekeeper to the family. She is a valuable member, who does not shirk from disciplining the children. There is a very telling incident in which a child from school is visiting them for dinner, and Scout laughs at him for something that he would like to eat. Without making her feel small in front of the guest, Calpurnia calls her into the kitchen, and tells her, "...this that boy is your guest. He could eat the whole tablecloth if he wants to."  In many ways she reminds me of Mammy, the coloured housekeeper in "Gone with the Wind," who is a mother figure to Scarlett O'Hara.

There is a man in a neighbouring house, who has a history of being jailed in his youth for some misdemeaners, who is kept behind closed doors by his father. Myths about him abound among the children. Arthur "Boo" Radley becomes a monster in their eyes, a person to be frightened of. Courage, for the children, is in touching the door to Boo's house and running back. Scout is the only child who meets Boo in the book, and realises that there is nothing really to be afraid of. It is prejudice about Boo that made them fear him, just as prejudice against a coloured man, Tom, makes the white people believe in his 'crime.' As a German proverb says, "Fear makes the wolf seem bigger than it is."

Atticus is a gentle person, with a core of steel. He takes on the town single-handedly. Jem and Scout, who are witnesses to the courtroom proceedings, see their father with new eyes. They are old enough to understand a lot of what is going on, so of course, they come to their father with questions. In a talk he has with them, he says,  "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

It is a summer of revelation, a time of growing up and the loss of innocence. As Scout later says, "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."  There are many kinds of courage it deals with. The 'courage' of Jem in touching Boo's house door and running back, the courage with which Calpurnia and Atticus deal with the rabid dog in an incident in the book, the courage of his convictions that Atticus displays in his handling of the children and his single-handedly taking on of the whole town's prejudices. The courage with which Tom faces the court and the lack of courage displayed by Mayella, the white woman who accuses Tom. It is a wonderful book, one which I have gifted to many friends and relations.

Two: I saw the trailer of the next Harry Potter movie. I am an avid fan of J.K.Rowling, In her book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, she quotes Franklin D Roosevelt when a major character applauds Harry for his choice of the thing he fears-"There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Harry is all too human in his attributes. Flawed, incomplete in many ways. He knows for a long time now that he is on borrowed time. Inspite of that, he meets his destiny head-on, with courage. Just as Harper Lee has said in her book. Courage here is not the lack of fear, but inspite of it.

This movie, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, will be released in two parts, in 3D. Part 1 is due for November 2010, and Part 2 for July 2011. Are you all fans reading this? Waiting for it.

SNAP

SNAP. Written by Alison McGhee. Cover photograph by Christine Rodin. Published by Candlewick Press. Ages: 9-12yrs.

Eddie Beckey is an 11yr old. She has a very close friend, Sally Hobart. They have been friends since they both joined 2nd grade as new students. Eddie is likes to have everything under control. She likes to make lists, and has six different coloured rubber bands on her wrist, which she snaps to remind her when she wants to control some bad habit.

Sally lives with her grandmother, Willie, and they both mean the world to each other. Willie's daughter Jill, Sally's mother, lives in the same village, but is unable to take care of Sally. She had been just 15, a few years older than Sally and Eddie are now, when Sally had been born. Jill lives by herself and works at a local store. Incidents in her past have affected her so profoundly, that she has lost the will to speak.

Most of this background is revealed to us in Eddie's musings and flashbacks. During the summer in which the actual incidents of the book are set, something very strange happens, and Eddie's world spins out of control. She keeps feeling that both Sally and Willie are hiding something from her, and she is deeply hurt. After all, they are such close friends that she knows Sally better than Sally herself. Well, almost. So what is it? Eddie is sure it has something to do with Willie. And then she knows.Willie is dying. So who will take care of Sally when she is gone? Will Jill be able to finally look after her daughter? Sally is in such denial, that she even denies the importance of Eddie in her life, all the things they had shared for so many years, all the things that had happened in their lives to make them such close friends.

The book ends with a shift in the relationship between Sally and Eddie. Eddie, who loves Sally's gorgeous, thick hair, which Willie had been braiding in myriad ways all her life, braids it for her in six plaits, using all six of the different coloured rubber bands on her wrist.

Eddie's musings, typical for a teenager, are almost poetic in their intensity, and make reading SNAP an unforgettable experience. The feelings get under your skin and leave you dazzled. The book is classified for ages 9-12, but when I finished with it, I felt it was more appropriate for 15-18yrs, although the protogonist is 11yrs old. I couldn't visualise A reading it right away. For two reasons. One, the emotional layers are of a slightly older child. Two, the context is rather difficult for an a child growing up in middle class India. It is a beautifully written book about the power of friendship, and I am sure A will enjoy it one day. The line on the cover page says it all:  'When your best friend's life changes, can your friendship survive?'

Crossposted here.