Inside sneak preview of East by Peri Hoskins
Hello everyone and welcome to a special guest blog featuring
Peri Hoskins and his upcoming new release ‘East.’
As someone who has lived in Australia, I was intrigued to find out about
the experiences portrayed in this book which the author describes a work of
literary fiction based on his personal memoirs.
In this special feature I am going to take a closer look at
a chapter that particularly captured
my attention because it touches on aboriginal culture
and justice, something I experienced first hand living and working in Outback Australia. As the chapter also takes
place in a camping environment which was one of my favourite pastimes in Australia I was keen to absorb the way the author decribed the settings.
Before we begin if you haven’t heard about ‘East’ yet
then here is the overview. (Be sure to get involved in the special 3 day
release blast book blog tour coming soon - check out the link below)
 |
| Join the tour at http://bit.ly/Peritour |
Introducing East by Peri Hoskins
‘About ‘East – A Novel'
It’s 1994. Junior lawyer, Vince Osbourne, leaves behind a small, mean and viciously circular life in the city representing petty criminals and takes to the road. He’s lived 30 years. The wide continent of Australia is out in front. He’s almost young. Where will the road lead? East takes in sunsets; rain in the desert; a five-year-old girl on a bike; a battered former thief and jockey; old-timers; young lovers; beautiful women, and aboriginals in public bars. The open road connects many vignettes making a rich tapestry of human encounters. East is poignant, gritty, funny, sad and above all: human. Hoskins’ laconic prose captures the harsh, arid country in all its big, empty beauty along with quirky exchanges with strangers, travel buddies, shop assistants, workmates, and friends old and new. A journey without and within, East taps into the spiritual realm that lies beneath this land and its people.
“East is a literary road trip combining
culture and human nature." Quote from ARC reader Samantha Parker look
out for Samantha's full review coming soon to the Rukia Publishing reader review
page on our website.
As a privileged advance reader of East I wanted to share with
you an insight which for me was captured in the chapter titled ‘At The Edge and
In -Between.’
The chapter is set on a stretch of Australian coastline where Vince and
Dan have stopped to camp for the night. Looking out over the Pacific Ocean they
meet a colourful character called Ted who is out fishing. In conversation they
soon realise that the three of them are camping at the same site that night.
They end up spending the evening with Ted listening to tales from his chequered
past, eating bread and jam with cups of tea before moving onto drinking port.
It is during this exchange, once the flagon of port starts to be
consumed that some topics of conversation arise involving aboriginal culture
and the introduction of alcohol, justice and relationships. This piqued my
interest as it reminded me of my time in Outback Australia.
Ted reminds Vince of his grandfather, a bushman. The chapter gives the
reader a fly on the wall opportunity to experience the conversation. Ted
reveals details about how before government intervention aboriginal families
could work and live on outback stations and although only one or two of them
would actually be employed and paid for the work they did the family had a home
and use of the station. The government wanting to ensure that people who worked
got paid made station owners unable to then house the family members and so
they ended up sitting around drinking alcohol in nearby communities which then
led to increased alcohol related problems such as violence and crime. It is the
story of one of these crimes committed by an aboriginal against a member of the
white community that the author portrays to demonstrate how both black and
white man’s justice was perceived and carried out.
Apart from it being the story of a personal journey encountering an
array of people, places and experiences which will hold the interest of the
reader from the outset, it cleverly connects the you with the emotions, inner
most thoughts and perceptions of the author, as it is based on his memoirs.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Australian
travel and culture, who enjoys a well-crafted novel.
I hope you enjoy it and be sure to leave a review for the author.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Jane
East is due for release on 31st August 2016.
Connect with the author and Rukia Publishing for release updates and don’t
forget you can get a free copy of Peri Hoskins first book, ‘Millennium: A
Memoir’ FREE by clicking here.
Meet Peri Hoskins here and find all of his social media and online bookstore links.
No comments:
Post a Comment