Part memoir, part social commentary, this is a Stolen Generations story with a difference. Told from the perspective of a non-Indigenous foster sister, The Chosen Son recounts one woman's lifelong quest to come to terms with her family's role in colonial policies that separated Indigenous children from their parents.
This book, the words, the expression, the pain and the love clearly comes from a place of knowing. The author's experiences, although a mere fragment of The Stolen Generations history of being a white child born into a white family following the forced removal of an Aboriginal boy, has never been explored like this. An essential component for all to learn and understand the importance of accountability.
Robyn Newitt, Yorta Yorta and Tharawal woman and
Monash University Lecturer
Written from the perspective of the younger sister/daughter, with the insights of an academic mind, The Chosen Son is profound, painful, and informative. The subtle and ethical way the author has negotiated the fraught and challenging nexus of personal story, Indigenous histories and the ramifications for us as a nation deserves a wide audience.
Distinguished Professor Lynette Russell AM, Monash Indigenous Studies Centre
The Chosen Son is a beautifully crafted book. It is a story of familial relationships lived through the cruelty of colonial policies of First Nations child removal and placement with non-Aboriginal families. Although there may be no equivalence between the coloniser and the colonised in the pains and horrors suffered through colonialism, as the author writes, 'we are all part of the same unfolding story'.
Professor Chris Cunneen, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research
