Compelling

A very worthy listen. Challenging. But worth it. Thank you Claire for your work. I can’t imagine this was an easy write!

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Eye opening as long as you manage to go through it

After abandoning Terra Nulius half way because it lost the plot I decided to listen to this book instead.

There was a point early on, where the writer seemed to have lost the plot again delving into very unrelated territory, but I’m glad I decided to move to the next chapter, instead of jumping off ship, because the book is worth it.

There are parts where it becomes repetitive, abstract, goes around in circles, it’s more like a rant of a person trying to get things of their chest; and it’s pity because I found myself zoning out, and having to rewind when I realised we were back on track.

The writer makes a lot of axiomatic points and logical leaps. She seems fixated on the English and spends a lot of time defining racism as if the only two cultures in the world are English and “Blacks”. This comes from a Greek married to a Chinese who worked in multiple cultures: racism is much more intertwined and broad. I get the feeling the writer confuses discrimination and pure oppression which have many forms, with racism. She also takes the “left-and-right/black-and-white” stance, you are either here or there … not allowed to be in-between or take a stance on either side on some matters.

And since I mentioned Greek further up, Medusa is a Greek mythological creature, and yes, geographically it’s origin is located somewhere near Turkey. Turkey itself is a more modern nation, arguably created by an invading power that integrated, assimilated or exterminated the previous people and cultures. Not writing this to open discussion on the topic but hey, here is an example that things are much more complicated, and the writer herself accepts the status quo, the same status quo she tries to dismantle in the case of Australia and the indigenous people … who by the way I respect like every other person, and I’m really saddened when I see how some of these proud people have ended up …

But back to the point, the book is worth listening to.

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Powerful and beautiful

The only thing that challenges me about this account of the true history of Australia is that it is not the history I learned in school.

This beautiful piece of writing skilfully weaves the personal story of The writer in with the history of the nation.

A must read for anyone who is committed to unlearning the fictional history of their education and learning the truth.

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truth, just truth, the true story if Australia.

What an amazing, well written and read of the history of Australia, by our First Nation People. I learnt so many truths about our history, contrary to the written English history l learnt at school. This is a story that needs to be told and read by All Australians. Well done Claire, you should be so proud.

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Incredible important book!

This audiobook taught me things I never knew about Australian history and prompted deep reflection about the power we all have to tell the truth, acknowledge the past, respect First Nations knowledge and address racism now.

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Decolonisation in action!

I really enjoyed this audio book, so much so I went and got a hard copy too! Coleman is an exceptional writer, and I enjoyed the way that she wove poetry and art throughout. She was generous with her story and strong in her conviction. Treaty Now!

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brutal and brilliant

Claire confronts every assumption, every white-washed history lesson, every overheard conversation between adults during my childhood. thank you for this. An absolutely brilliant book. and the narration by Lisa Naza is perfect.

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