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Review No 2 - Yenohan's Legacy by Dale Lorna Jacobsen

21/3/2014

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Fran MacMillan has travelled south to escape the heat of the Queensland summer. Enjoying the solitude in Namadgi National Park in the high country, she is a little annoyed when a fellow camper pitches his tent close to hers. Yet fate has clearly arranged this meeting, for it is through talking to Kelvin that Fran is invited to participate in a working party restoring one of the historic huts in the region. And this weekend is just the start of some life changing experiences for Fran.

Almost a century before the pioneering Thompson family had lived in that same hut enduring the frigid winters of the snow belt but ultimately prospering on the land. Entwined within their story is that of Yenohan, a young Aboriginal girl who befriended their daughter Eleanor and ultimately became a surrogate member of the Thompson family.

After this initial weekend, Fran is hooked. Using her furniture making skills, she soon becomes a valuable member of the committee that is tirelessly working to restore all the historic huts in the region. Enjoying the camaraderie as much as the physical work, Fran begins to piece together the story of the Thompson family and Yenohan. And just to make things a little more interesting, Fran soon develops more than a platonic interest in married man Kelvin.

Yenohan's Legacy is an intertwined story moving between present day and the historic past. Each story works well on its own, but is enriched by the other. It is not an overly suspenseful story, but the subject matter was rich enough to keep me interested and eager to keep reading as both threads moved closer together.

I really liked the way this book was framed around a true situation. So much history disappears through neglect or willful destruction and it is comforting to know that there are people who do care enough to actively do something about it. I was fascinated to learn of the work committees that restore huts, preserving history that would otherwise be forgotten.

I really enjoyed Yenohan's Legacy. Told in an easy to read way and skillfully constructed to connect past and present, it captured my interest right at the start and continued right until the end.
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    I am excited to once again be participating in the Australian Women Writers Challenge for 2019. Although I am not currently reviewing books for the challenge,  I am still reading. You can find my reviews from previous years below.

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    2012 Reviews
    2013 Reviews
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    2016 Reviews

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