Title: Ratwhiskers and Me
Author: Lorraine Marwood
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
ISBN: 9781921150395
Price: $14.95
Local poet and storyteller Lorraine Marwood celebrates Ratwhiskers and Me as ‘the book I have always wanted to write. Always’. Due for nationwide release this week, the volume is a unique and telling journey through fear, liberation and dreams. Embracing a Central Victorian landscape circa. 1800's, Marwood’s poetic prose presents the story of its narrator Lin - an orphaned Chinese teen, attempting to survive alongside some of the goldfield’s most harshest characters.
Lin’s life and that of her beloved dog Ratwhiskers is continually at risk - driven by the pain associated with flight into freedom. Assuming an identity change can only provide limited coverage, and as Lin is to learn, does not ease the pain of remembering those loved and lost. Her emotions are pervasive, and their depth reflect the hardship and misfortune felt by many across the goldfields. Telling moments see Lin’s character truly shine - moments that sometimes bear hurt, but also sing of the friendship endeared across personal histories . . . . precious gifts that remain forever. As a final battle for freedom looms under ground, Lin looks to make her family proud - a catalyst for remembering her past with courage, not broken in pain.
A rich and sensitively penned story of Chinese perspective, Ratwhiskers and Me will prove a relevant tool in the compilation and understanding of local history. It is most suitable for a young adult / adult readership.
Jacqueline Perryman
