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Image courtesy of Magabala Books
y separately published work icon A Most Peculiar Act single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 A Most Peculiar Act
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Units Teaching this Work

Text Unit Name Institution Year
y separately published work icon A Most Peculiar Act Marie Munkara , Broome : Magabala Books , 2014 Z1922976 2014 single work novel (taught in 1 units) 'The story follows the trials and tribulations of Sugar, a 16 year-old Aboriginal fringe-camp dweller. Set in Darwin during the Japanese bombing raids, we meet characters such as: Horatio Humphris (Horrid Hump), chief protector of Aboriginals, teetotaller and 42 year old virgin; Ralphie Brown, who has the unedifying honour of being the only public servant to ever be sacked; Drew Hepplewaite, redneck racist and female patrol officer armed with balls of steel; and the Administrator's wife, Penelope, who has a fetish for anything oriental. Then there's Sugar's mate Nig Nog, who teaches Sugar a few useful tricks of the "trade" while they do time at the Half-Caste Compound; Fuel Drum's suspicious death at the hands of his six-month-old granddaughter, Honey; and Horseshoe with his wayward and slutty wife, Brumby. With the Aboriginal Ordinances Act and the 'White Australia' policy set as a backdrop, Sugar's resistance to assimilation and the attempts by Horrid Hump and his henchmen to enforce it becomes a protracted battle that ends at the Christmas party from Hell. Interspersed with illicit affairs, stolen children, leprosy and "fucking foreigners," this story sees Sugar and her oppressors finally meet on a level playing field that none of them ever expected - a Japanese bombing raid.' (Source: newsouthbooks website www.newsouthbooks.com.au) Transnational Indigenous Literatures University of Wollongong 2015 (Semester 1)
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