Swallow the Air cover art

Swallow the Air

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Swallow the Air

By: Tara June Winch
Narrated by: Tamala Shelton
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $12.99

Buy Now for $12.99

About this listen

When May’s mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty. However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn’t seem to want them. While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets out to find her father and her Aboriginal identity.

Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong.

Swallow the Air is an unforgettable story of living in a torn world and finding the thread to help sew it back together.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writers.

©2006 Tara June Winch (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Heartfelt Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking
All stars
Most relevant
Intelligent kindness and courage brought to life. Extraordinary writing, words given breath. Makes clear how each and every Aboriginal person, living or passed, is precious to a better understanding of this country and what it means to have the privilege to be here.

Stunningly beautiful...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is one of the most poignant and lyrical stories I have come across. Actually a masterpiece of literature.
Perfectly narrated by Tamala Shelton I highly recommend this for every Australian.
It should be a standard school curriculum reader.

Excruciatingly beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The kind of book written & narrated so beautifully you feel as if your there with May.

Incredibly beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It read like a song. Thoughtful and poignant. The narrator was sensitive in her timing and tone.

highly recommend this audio book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So many of these stories hit me deep in the feels. The combo of Winch and Shelton is utter perfection. I’m still learning my language, and no longer living on my own Country, so it’s the first time I’ve heard ‘Biami’ spoken out loud.
Books and their audio versions are so important for sharing knowledge and creating belonging. I could not be more grateful.

Truth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.