Stranger Country

Description

'Will I ever really belong to this country? As a Chinese Australian? As a non-Indigenous Australian? . . . I was 32 years old and barely knew the country of my birth. It was time to change that.' What happens when a 32-year-old first-generation Australian woman decides to chuck in a dream job, pack a sleeping bag and tent, and hit the long, dusty road for six months? Thirty-thousand kilometres later, Monica Tan has the answer, and it completely surprises her. In mid-2016, Monica left Sydney, unsure of her place in Australia. As a Chinese Australian city slicker, she couldn't have felt more distant from powerful mythologies like the Digger, the Drover's Wife and Clancy of the Overflow. And more importantly, Monica wondered, how could she ever feel she truly belonged to a land that has been the spiritual domain of Indigenous Australians for over 60,000 years? Stranger Country is the riveting account of the six months Monica drove and camped her way through some of Australia's most beautiful and remote landscapes. She shared meals, beers and conversations with miners, greynomads, artists, farmers, community workers and small business owners from across the nation: some Aboriginal, some white, some Asian, and even a few who managed to be all three. The result is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of the spirit of adventure, a thoughtful quest for understanding, and a unique portrait of Australia and all it means to those who live here.

Monica Tan is the former deputy culture editor of Guardian Australia and co-host of the Token podcast. Stranger Country is her first book.

'A tender and thought-provoking exploration of cultural and national identity, and a bewitching love letter to Australia, recounting the pain of what's been, the complications of the present, and offering hope for what is to come. Tan's curiosity and deep reverence for the land and its first inhabitants makes her the perfect travel buddy on this journey into the heart of Australia.' Michelle Law, author of Single Asian Female 'With 85 per cent of Australia's population scattered along the coast, too often we look out and across the sea for meaning and adventure. Monica Tan's Stranger Country is a call for us to look within: at our rich and varied geography, our long and buried history of diversity,and the 60,000-year-old culture on our doorstep. The cliche thatAustralia has no history or culture is false-we just don't often take the time to tell it. Stranger Country does. A necessary Australian story.' Rachel Hills, author of The Sex Myth 'Self-aware and provocative, Monica gets to the heart of what it means to call Australia home as a non-Indigenous person. Neverself- indulgent, Monica looks outwards and examines herself criticallyas she learns about the culture of the country she grew up in. I loved it, and came away with a new lens through which to see myself.' Bridie Jabour, journalist and author of The Way Things Should Be 'Stranger Country is a marvellously engaging, beautifully described record of a quest into the meaning of belonging, that documents both the gritty reality of a 30,000-kilometre solo road trip around Australia by one young woman, and her profoundly intelligent journey of mind.' Isobelle Carmody, author of The Obernewtyn Chronicles