Edenglassie
Published on 3. July 2025
320 pages
978-1-83643-107-7 (ISBN)
Description
'Lucashenko is a national treasure: there are no two ways around it.' Vogue Australia
* Already the winner of eight major literary awards, including Australia's richest literary prize *
TWO UNFORGETTABLE STORIES. TWO FAMILIES. TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF HISTORY.
1854: When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Brisbane - or Edenglassie, as it was once briefly known - his community still outnumbers the British settlers. Tensions are simmering just beneath the surface of a fragile peace, but hopes for independence are running high. Yet when colonial unrest tears through the region, Mulanyin's passion for his new bride clashes with his loyalty to a homeland in danger.
Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny when her grandmother Eddie has a serious fall. Winona just wants the obstinate centenarian back on her feet, but a shrewd journalist has other ideas. Eddie becomes a local celebrity, dominating the headlines as 'Queensland's Oldest Aboriginal'.
Her time in the spotlight brings past and present crashing together, the legacy of Nita and Mulanyin's tragic past reaching into Winona and Eddie's lives with consequences they couldn't have predicted.
* Already the winner of eight major literary awards, including Australia's richest literary prize *
TWO UNFORGETTABLE STORIES. TWO FAMILIES. TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF HISTORY.
1854: When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Brisbane - or Edenglassie, as it was once briefly known - his community still outnumbers the British settlers. Tensions are simmering just beneath the surface of a fragile peace, but hopes for independence are running high. Yet when colonial unrest tears through the region, Mulanyin's passion for his new bride clashes with his loyalty to a homeland in danger.
Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny when her grandmother Eddie has a serious fall. Winona just wants the obstinate centenarian back on her feet, but a shrewd journalist has other ideas. Eddie becomes a local celebrity, dominating the headlines as 'Queensland's Oldest Aboriginal'.
Her time in the spotlight brings past and present crashing together, the legacy of Nita and Mulanyin's tragic past reaching into Winona and Eddie's lives with consequences they couldn't have predicted.
Reviews / Votes
'Not well known in this country, Melissa Lucashenko is acclaimed in her native Australia and this inventive, ambitious novel demonstrates why.' The Sunday Times 'Gripping, political, horny, moving and very, very funny. Make it into a film already.' Guardian 'Melissa is the big gust of leaf-laden wind that we needed.' Tim Winton '[Edenglassie] unpicks the myths of Brisbane's colonial history and puts the shocking brutality and injustice of British occupation under eye-opening scrutiny. With the dual timeline, we see how that past continues to leave its mark on the present and future as we connect deeply with Melissa's cast of beautifully drawn characters.' Australian Women's Weekly 'A rage-informed, joyful, rollicking, straight-talking yarn of the strength and persistence of Goorie people in Brisbane since the coming of the Dagai.' Readings 'A story of strength and love - a testimony to the continuation of Aboriginal storytelling.' Australian Book Review 'Edenglassie - an early name for Brisbane - slides deftly between past and present and eyes a future for all.' The Age 'This novel is a gift to all who pick it up and journey with the stories it holds.' The Conversation 'Edenglassie, the latest epic by Miles Franklin-winner Melissa Lucashenko, reflects a luminous spectrum of Aboriginal experience over five generations.' The Saturday Paper 'Melissa Lucashenko's Edenglassie is an unforgettable novel, filled with descriptions, landscapes, figures and feelings that will linger long, long after their first encounter. It is a beautifully crafted work of fiction.' Adrian Duncan, author of The Gorgeous Inertia of the Earth 'A significant talent... There is no denying the insight in her exploration of life in Queensland, spanning the 19th century, when it ceased being a penal colony, and the present day.' Observer 'Looping back and forth between the 1850s and the present and steeped in the rituals of First Nations culture, Edenglassie at times feels as vast as Australia itself. But it's also written in a spirit of reconciliation, daring to dream what a future version of that country might look like.' Daily MailMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
File size
1,51 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-83643-107-7 (9781836431077)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Melissa Lucashenko is a Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage. Her first novel was published in 1997 and since then her work has received critical acclaim and many literary awards. Her sixth novel, Too Much Lip, won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance.
Edenglassie, Melissa's seventh novel, has won eight literary awards, including the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, the Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance, and Australia's richest literary prize, the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Award.
Melissa is a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside. She writes about ordinary Australians and the extraordinary lives they lead.
Edenglassie, Melissa's seventh novel, has won eight literary awards, including the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, the Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance, and Australia's richest literary prize, the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Award.
Melissa is a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside. She writes about ordinary Australians and the extraordinary lives they lead.
