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''You can't enslave us all, Captain!' I yelled into his face. 'We will resist, and you will die a beaten man. Our Blackfellows will rise...'
'From the acclaimed author of the Miles Franklin longlisted Madukka: The River Serpent (UWA) and the Barbara Jefferis Award shortlisted Benevolence, Compassion continues Julie Janson's emotional and intense literary exploration of the complex and dangerous lives of Aboriginal women during the 1800s in colonial New South Wales, which she began in Benevolence as a counter narrative to colonial history in Australian literature.
'Compassion is the dramatised life story of one of Julie Janson's ancestors who went on trial for stealing livestock in New South Wales, and it is an exciting and violent story of anti-colonial revenge and roaming adventure. A gripping fictive account of Aboriginal life in the 1800s, Compassion follows the life of Duringah, AKA Nell James, the outlaw daughter of the Darug hero of Benevolence, Muraging.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Author's note: In memory of my father, Neville Walter Janson
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Epigraph: 'Writing saved me from the sin and inconvenience of violence.' - Alice Walker
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
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y
Benevolence
Broome
:
Magabala Books
,
2020
18673106
2020
single work
novel
historical fiction
'For perhaps the first time in novel form, Benevolence presents an important era in Australia’s history from an Aboriginal perspective.
'Benevolence is told from the perspective of Darug woman, Muraging (Mary James), born around 1813. Mary’s was one of the earliest Darug generations to experience the impact of British colonisation. At an early age Muraging is given over to the Parramatta Native School by her Darug father. From here she embarks on a journey of discovery and a search for a safe place to make her home.
'The novel spans the years 1816-35 and is set around the Hawkesbury River area, the home of the Darug people, Parramatta and Sydney. The author interweaves historical events and characters - she shatters stereotypes and puts a human face to this Aboriginal perspective.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
