AustLit

'The Red Earth is a sweeping saga in the life of an Aboriginal girl/woman who grows up in central Queensland, Australia on her own clan's country within the traditions of her culture and with the imposition of government polices and the Catholic Church. As a result of her wealthy Irish Uncle's legacy she is tied to one priest who becomes a lifelong friend and mentor and another who sexually abuses her as a teenager and young woman and to both she has children, one son born out of rape and one daughter born of love during a tumultuous time in her life as an adult. She lives in an important political era working as a lawyer to Australia's Attorney General married to a prominent barrister who later becomes a Minister in the Labour Hawke government. She is an activist during the important historical period of the movement for Indigenous rights and later convinces the government that they must have an Inquiry into the abuse of children within missions and homes run by the Churches. During this time she decides to tell of her abuse at the hands of the priest who is now a prominent Bishop and tells Patrick her priest friend who has now become a Cardinal. He supports her within the Church as she navigates the trial, the courts and the subsequent negotiations with the Church. As she and her husband age, their children grow up and move on they continually return to the country of her birth, to the property Gracevale, left to her family by her Uncle for the future of her clan and it is in the nearby town of Winton that their lasting legacy of a Healing Centre is built with her inheritance with the local community for the healing of all Indigenous peoples from the oppression and trauma of colonisation. This book is based on a true story and is a testament to survival, courage, maintenance of cultural traditions and spirituality and the legacy of the Catholic Church in the lives of Australia's Indigenous people told through the eyes of those characters who populate the life of Mary/Marra and her extended family.' (Publication summary)