The Islands in Aussie Readers

Jul 22, 2022 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, own-read, debut, 2022-release, aussie-authors, 3500-2022

It was the mid 1950s when Onni Saari and his wife, Alva, migrated from Finland to Australia, eventually arriving in Western Australia. Onni's brother Nalle had arrived a couple of years earlier and was a crayfisherman, living and working on Little Rat, an island in an archipelago out from the coast of WA. When Onni received a visit from the local police to say Nalle was missing at sea, Onni was taken straight to Little Rat, a good few hours by boat. The Finns searched for a few days especially a ...more

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Mar 26, 2022 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, australian-author, arc-done

4.5鈽�
鈥淭wenty-one corrugated-iron camps now lined the island鈥檚 eastern flank, from which a series of topsy-turvy jetties extended like fractured finger bones. It resembled a small, ramshackle village.鈥�

The Houtman Abrolhos, a group of tiny islands in the Indian Ocean, about 80km off the west coast of Western Australia, are where Finnish fishermen established these (mostly) summer camps. The men came from Finland to make money in the WA mines, but gradually some moved to the coast to take up fishing ...more

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Feb 17, 2022 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-are, aussie-author, provided-by-publisher

鈥淎 wreck. That was what they called it, when they washed up like that. A wreck of shearwaters. To travel so far, thought Onni, and all for nothing.鈥�

Emily Brugman鈥檚 debut, The Islands, is a beautifully told, poignant tale of loss, migration and belonging. Unfolding over several decades, beginning in the late 1950鈥檚, it relates the events in the lives of the Saari family, revealing key moments of adversity and growth, tragedy and joy.

Set largely amongst the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Weste 鈥淎 wreck. That was what they called it, when they washed up like that. A wreck of shearwaters. To travel so far, thought Onni, and all for nothing.鈥�

Emily Brugman鈥檚 debut, The Islands, is a beautifully told, poignant tale of loss, migration and belonging. Unfolding over several decades, beginning in the late 1950鈥檚, it relates the events in the lives of the Saari family, revealing key moments of adversity and growth, tragedy and joy.

Set largely amongst the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia, Finnish immigrants, Onni Saari and and his wife Alva, join the tiny seasonal cray fishing community on Little Rat Island after Onni鈥檚 brother is lost at sea.

Onni works hard to provide for his family, though always wary of meeting the same fate as his brother.
Alva easily takes to life on the island, she enjoys making their small corrugated iron hut a home, helping her husband when needed, and the friendship of the crayfisher鈥檚 wives, all of them Finns, but never learns to swim.
To Hilda, Little Rat is home, but when she is five, she and Alva are forced to spend most of each year in Geraldton so that Hilda can attend school. It鈥檚 a difficult transition for them both, and when, citing injury, Onni sells the fishing lease in 1975, and moves the family to NSW, their dreams of returning to the Islands are shattered.

Flashbacks reveal the Finnish childhoods of Onni and Alva, marred by war and struggle, desirous of security and prosperity.

Enhanced by snippets of Finnish poems and songs, Brugman shares the unique culture of the Finnish immigrants, drawing on her own family鈥檚 background.

The author explores the interconnectedness of the Island community, no one is unaffected by another. She also touches on the xenophobia of mid century Australia, and the awkwardness sometimes experienced by the children caught between cultural expectations.

Brugman weaves the history of the cray fishing industry and the varying landmasses that make up the Abrolhos Islands archipelago, which includes the tragic story of the Batavia shipwreck, artfully into the story.

The prose is lyrical, yet uncomplicated, effortlessly evoking character and landscape.
Descriptions of the Islands and the ocean that surrounds them, both terribly beautiful and terribly dangerous, are entrancing.

Eloquent, meditative and atmospheric, The Islands is a captivating novel. ...more

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Jan 26, 2022 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, australian, historical-fiction, family, migrants

found this a fascinating read, one that reinforced how much I still don鈥檛 know about my own country in terms of history and even geography. This is set in a part of Australia that I鈥檓 not really familiar with 鈥� I鈥檝e spent all of my life on the east coast and have never visited Western Australia. This is a work of fiction but loosely based on the author鈥檚 own relatives鈥� experience coming from Finland and working the crayfishing industry, creating a camp on a tiny island. It鈥檚 seasonal work, with found this a fascinating read, one that reinforced how much I still don鈥檛 know about my own country in terms of history and even geography. This is set in a part of Australia that I鈥檓 not really familiar with 鈥� I鈥檝e spent all of my life on the east coast and have never visited Western Australia. This is a work of fiction but loosely based on the author鈥檚 own relatives鈥� experience coming from Finland and working the crayfishing industry, creating a camp on a tiny island. It鈥檚 seasonal work, with the fishermen and their families, if they have them, living and working on the island during the harvesting months and then returning to the mainland during the offseason. Only one or two diehards stay on the island the whole year round.

The story begins with Onni being told of his brother鈥檚 death out in the sea around the islands and he moves himself and his young wife Alva out there to take over from his brother. Onni spends a lot of time looking for his brother, whose body was never found. We also spend time with Alva, a quiet and strong woman as she settles into the small community and negotiates being pregnant and then later on, raising their daughter both on the island and on the mainland when it鈥檚 time for her to begin attending school. Included are some of the stories of the other residents as well.

This book did such a beautiful job describing both the area and the lifestyle of the fishermen and their wives 鈥� the primitive housing, the sparse amenities but the feeling of community and the bond that they established. The island worked its way into people鈥檚 bones and hearts and it felt like I was there, experiencing everything as well. I really enjoyed the story of Alva 鈥� the book delved into her past in Finland (with Onni as well) and I believe it showcased why so many Europeans came to Australia during these times, looking for something else. There was a lot of talk about how prosperous people could be in this country, the opportunities that were available and for people like Alva and Onni, staying where they were gave them very limited options indeed, during some very hard times. It must鈥檝e been such a shock going from a place like Finland to the west coast of Australia and it was really interesting to read how these people saw their new homes 鈥� and the people who were already living there.

As well as Onni and Alva, the story then moves on to encompass their daughter Hilda as she grows up and the choices that they all make that shape their lives. Hilda grows up on the island until she starts school and then must split her time between the two, which is something that she finds very difficult. She鈥檚 very much a part of the islands and the ocean and the industry and you can tell she struggles when she has to leave it behind and go to school with people she doesn鈥檛 know, who don鈥檛 understand the life she鈥檚 led until now 鈥� and who often have quite negative views of people who have come from other countries, even though Hilda and her parents have the right 鈥渓ook鈥�. This book showcases the attitudes towards immigrants during what would鈥檝e probably been the height of the white Australia policy.

The writing in this was lovely 鈥� it鈥檚 interspersed with Finnish phrases and poetry and as I mentioned, the way the author anchors the story in the setting is so well done. Everything is so vivid and not just with the setting but also the way the characters feel, especially Alva when she鈥檚 living off the island for Hilda to go to school. I could relate so much of that self-conscious feeling around the other school mothers, even though Alva and I have nothing in common鈥�.some experiences feel universal.

I really enjoyed the experience of reading this and would definitely be interested to see what the author comes out with next.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review***
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Jul 12, 2022 Rhoda rated it really liked it

4.5 stars

Thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of this book to review!

In the mid 1950s, Onni, a Finnish migrant takes over his brother鈥檚 cray fishing work after his brother disappears at sea off the coast of Little Rat in the Abrolhos Islands. Onni and his wife Alva are amongst a small group of Finnish migrants drawn to the islands and the fledgling crayfish industry where they set up camp and form a small community.

Despite the island being quite isolated and the camp ramshackle, O ...more

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May 08, 2022 Dee-Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, five-star, mental-health, environmental, friendship, strong-women, australian-authors, scandinavian

I loved this book as my father was a cray fisherman and his father came from Finland and thus this book held a personal note for me, as both of these elements play a major part of my upbringing. Fascinating book, which though has a slow pace, covers a lengthy period of time and intimately describes a group of people, which I think have been overlooked.

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