The Last Cry

Description

By Mick Woiwod, Tarcoola Press, 1997

The main theme of this 300 pp. historical novel is the story of its Wurundjeri people as it played out between 1847 and 1851 as the settler world moved out towards them in the Yarra Valley and took away their land. Thoroughly researched, its principal characters are Ngayuk, a young Wurundjeri initiate and Jaga Jaga, the rainbow warrior of the Yarra Valley who was determined to push the invaders back into the sea. The story opens in Kangaroo Ground and moves up and down the Yarra country and out into wider Victoria. Most all of its characters on the white side of the cultural divide are drawn from actual players in the interaction. Launched by senior elder, Joy Murphy, the novel includes maps and a glossary of 300 Wurundjeri terms to assist the reader with the action.