Too Much Lip: A Novel Kindle Edition

The novel captures the lives of an Australian Aboriginal family in the early 21st century and gives something of the ancestry of the kin of that family. As such the novel gives us a view of the damage British colonization did to a complex and successful culture who had lived in a symbiosis with this continent over many thousands of years. Awful things were done to the indigenous of Australia by the colonisers - from genocide to stealing their children and effectively imprisoning them in mission settlements of one or other Christian religion.The family in the centre of this story carry the scars of that history yet also have dignity that comes from their Aboriginal ancestors and the remnants of the language and stories of the metaphors of the relationship of the people and their land.This novel is superbly well written and the particular story unfolds in the way plots do in pleasing novels with all the complex and serendipity and metaphors and humour we expect from this art form. Yet, from time to time one has to have a break from the family and some of the inter-relationships because it is so punishingly hard - even brutal. Shame visits upon me the reader a second generation European Australian principally of English heritage. What my English and Irish stock did in the past and still many feel that way today. But I came back to the novel. The story is good and the writing terrific and, after all - though it is from rape and sometimes genuine inter racial love - the family in the novel have European heritage as well as Aboriginal. The family are after all cousins with some of their white persecutors in the nearby towns.We are, after all in this together, in this business of rehabilitation.

An interesting but difficult read. Took a couple of weeks to get through but the book provides great insight into current issues faced by Australian aborigines. Except for several times when the meaning of words could not be determined from context, I learned several new words which I won't ever use. Descriptive of many of the same issues faced by native Americans and blacks in the US.

I’ve never read a book by an Indigenous Australian author (that I know of). I have never thus been given such an authentic insight into the lives of the People I live beside yet barely know. I learnt more about Indigenous life over the two days it took to read this book than in my preceding 40+ years.I feel guilty that I had never read work of its type before. About time.

What an extraordinary journey of trauma and fight this book is! I cried, cringed, laughed, and cheered. I can’t wait to meet the author at the February, Well-Read Native Book Club meeting!

We read this in my book group. Had a great discussion about lots of aspects. Loved the characters (well most of them anyway).

Capitvating story of a complicated family that left me glad to have read this story and walked with them thankyou

Took to long to get into what became an interesting story, if a little idyllic.

I enjoyed the story. Nice to get an Indigenous point-of-view directly. Well-constructed narrative.

For white Australians this will be a hard book to read. It lays bare the legacy of white domination over the country’s original inhabitants. Melissa Lucoshenko doesn’t pull her punches when describing the effects of violence, abuse, poverty and alcohol. It’s gut-wrenching and so sadly predictable, given white culture’s assumption of superiority, and the means of force to impose it. There’s a great scene at a party visited by cops where the Aboriginals savagely - and effectively - mock the evils of white society.On the other hand, it’s also a story that shows us how Aborigines relate to land, to country, and how important family is. The country in question here is a river bend in northern NSW where there’s an island known as Ava’s Island, after an ancestor who birthed a child there after fleeing would-be captors. It’s a very lively story with a battle for land at its heart that makes for gripping reading. Corrupt mayor Jim Buckley wants to make a lot of money selling off the riverbank near Ava’s Island for a prison. Lucoshenko has us barracking hard for Buckley to get his comeuppance.One of the great things about this book is the cadence of Aboriginal speech, which is very distinctive and uses native words. (Crows are called waarks - a terrific word that accurately describes their cries.) Another is the description of Uncle Richard and others conducting deep emotional healing for scarred people as unpleasant revelations are made. We know now that abuse lives on through generations. I especially liked the idea that there doesn’t necessarily have to be forgiveness, just an agreement to go on living together. This is a really compelling story that all Australians should read. It’s often grim, but often funny and hopeful too. The “Too Much Lip” of the title refers to feisty Kerry, who loves to ride her Harley motorbike.

A very insightful read about how some aboriginals lead their lives.I must be somewhat naive as I didn't realise just how much most aboriginals hate whites. This family the author depicts in the book have episodes of sheer violence and dependence on alcohol. Their lifestyle is completely different from most non aboriginals. They show no respect for society, rules or life. However, the author portrays their strong family ties, just how quickly they forgave Donna and welcomed her back into their fold, despite her being AWOL for over 20years. At least they were able to cheer when their "shonky" mayor who showed little tolerance for aboriginals was arrested.

The writer's style can be summarised as: "Too much lip, her old problem from way back. And the older she got, the harder it seemed to get to swallow her opinions. The avalanche of b******t in the world would drown her if she let it; the least she could do was raise her voice in anger. Give the a********s a blast, then stand and defend, or else run like hell." (Kindle location 2,909)An example of the writer's fury is: "Pretty Mary held his gaze and very nearly smiled at Ryan’s masterful extraction of victimhood from her story. That took some front, that did." (Kindle location 2,351) This is the essence of the whole novel. The author is able to covey the restrained anger of Aboriginals against White Australians in this one paragraph.The style of the book is accessible to most readers. The author ably conveys a potent expression of the Aboriginal experience to white readers.If you want to understand why an Aboriginal would want to punch your face, you should read this book.

An intriguing and eye opening book. This book should be prescribed reading for all Australians. In its sometimes humorous way it provides insights on the lives of our indigenous country men and women. It does not provide answers but poses many questions and vividly illustrates why only education might bridge the divide that exists . The names for some of the characters are brilliant and add to the intrigue.e.g. “black super man “ . The scenes where some of the characters are communicating with animals provide insight to “ connection with country” . As a non indigenous Australian I can’t say that I understand it, however the book convinced me how real it is for our indigenous people. Highly recommended.

This is the first book ive read recreating the lives of aboriginal families in australia and so a real eye opener for me. The author is a gifted writer and able to make her charcters come to life and fit their stories into what we already know from the news about the terrible tragedy of the children forcibly removed from their families as part of government policy to 'integrate' the original population into the colonial European wider society. Some striking parallels with black african slavery in the United States.