The White Girl by Tony Birch

May 2021

The white girl by Tony Birch

This was a lovely breakfast book club meeting, held at the Rowers Club on the banks of the Nepean River. 

Kristy had not finished reading so the ones who had finished did not wish to give the ending away, this however did not stop the discussion of the importance of the book. Deb didn't finish the book as she felt a sense of impending doom at the bicycle scene. Several of us agreed, however we encouraged her to finish the book as it did not go in a negative direction. The bicycle scene was a turning point in the novel.

One comment, "I was horrified about stuff I didn’t know" was largely the consensus. As a group we felt completely ignorant of the indignity that aboriginal people in Australia faced, as well as the existence of an 'exemption certificate' and what this meant. Phil informed us that students at school nowe larn about this. 

The characters were interesting and realisitc, and the town was 'anywhere Australia'. People liked the character of the old town cop (or good cop). His recollections of his conflict about being a child and being torn about which group to walk to and from school with was touching. The encounters Odette has with characters when she leaves town are memorable. Jack was pivitol in helping Odette navigate her new world, and was to a large extent her saviour. We loved the scene where the girl in the hotel asked Odette to hug her. Anna had book-marked the page as it made her cry. 

Phil described it as as 'Psychological thriller' which is not inaccurate.

The book was enjoyed and was informative. 

Anna       10
Deb          8
Glenda     9
Kristy -
Margaret   8
Megan      9
Phil          10