Scott, K: That Deadman Dance

A haunting, lyrical novel based on the first contact between Europeans and the Noongar people of Western Australia ... Scott pays meticulous attention to landscape and nature, and his descriptions are frequently wonderful Financial Times An exercise in lush impressionism ... This is such a moving subject, Scott's research is impeccable, and his story skills are obvious ... Where it truly succeeds is in its glorious descriptions of landscape and wildlife, and the evocation of an ancient and mysterious place that seems to exist outside of time ... Scott, son of a white mother and Aboriginal father, clearly has a message to convey. Through Bobby he speaks of an ideal fellowship and mutual co-operation. In the deadman dance we witness a performance of what might have been, a forlorn hope that is clung to long after the true outcome has become inevitable. Until the final paragraph, which is powerful and quietly devastating, this hope is paramount Carol Birch, Guardian An enchanting and authentic book, giving us an insider's view of Australia before it was Australia ... Enormously readable, humane, proud and subtle Thomas Keneally Kim Scott's lyrical prose is a pleasure to read, and the classic culture clash story is subtly handled. There's a sense of what could have been between Europeans and Aborigines which gives the novel a tragic feel, but it's the language that makes the story so powerful. That Deadman Dance is an outstanding historical novel by a master writer We Love This Book An extraordinary work, both realist and visionary ... Scott's scope is vast and his way of telling complex. Think Melville - never a straight line toward conclusions and perhaps few conclusions. That Deadman Dance is a novel to read, recite, and reread, to linger over as Scott peels back layer after layer of meaning ... Exhilarating Sydney Morning Herald In That Deadman Dance, it is the author's imagination and his graceful prose that shine brightest ... Politically charged and historically astute, [the novel] possesses a furious poise and yet is generous in spirit Australian Book Review