STONE SKY GOLD MOUNTAIN | MIRANDI RIWOE | 2020

Unaware of this author’s work I came to this book via a news article full of praise. It has also won the inaugural Historical Novel Society Australasia: ARA Historical Novel Prize 2020 prize, so it has great credentials.

First of all, it’s a good story well told, set on the goldfields of Palmer River in north Queensland in 1877. Two young Chinese siblings Lai Yue and Ying come to find their fortune to buy back their parent’s farm after it’s lost to their father’s gambling. So they arrive in Queensland and make their way to the rough and tough diggings where they encounter racism and hostility, prostitution, illness, separation, violence and death. Living conditions are dire, dirty and dangerous. Yin disguises herself as a boy and that’s probably the only reason she survives.

This all sounds very plot driven and difficult to read but the writing explores the rich inner voices of the characters as they come to terms with their situations. It took me a while to get into the swing of the narration but once into the rhythm, each character came alive. I knew next to nothing about the Chinese diggers and some of the characters are in a support role as gardeners and shopkeepers.

There’s a third major character Meriem who is a servant to a prostitute and she forms a friendship with Ying which is the catalyst for the climax of the story. There is a wonderful passage towards the end: Unfortunately, Ying, sooner or later, the price of love will always be grief, those words really spoke to me. When we think of our lives and loves we know there is ultimately a price to pay, but that usually doesn’t stop us from paying it willingly.

I found the use of the crow device a bit wearing at times but it was justified in the end. I also felt the title was a bit misplaced and was wondering if these words or scene would materialise. However, the research is wonderful and seamless; it never shows once. There is a satisfactory conclusion but for me it was a little underdone although I’m glad that it wasn’t a happy ever after — that would have been too much after such grief and sadness.