A far-flung life by M.L. Stedman
It has been a long wait since Australian writer M.L Stedman's debut novel The light between oceans (2012). The reason has to be the evident quality of Stedman's work both in terms of research and literary value. That cannot happen over night. Works such as The light between oceans and this second book A far-flung life offer profound insights into human existence with complex interwoven themes that are universal and timeless, psychological depth that probes the human mind and deeply charged moral dilemmas. Added to this there is such a high degree of descriptive power in the depiction of the physical landscape, the landscape of the characters' minds and the consequential behaviours that the reader cannot help but be powerfully moved.
An amalgam of outback noir and historical fiction, A far-flung life features small town/outback station family secrets, social isolation and an unsettling atmosphere. Stedman's topics and situations are intense, passionate and volatile. Stedman, in A far-flung life, has traced generations of the MacBride family who have lived on a remote sheep station called Meredith Downs. The power of observation and description is apparent in beautifully crafted sentences such as..." Under dust-green mulga, a lizard seeks shade and shadow; ants engineer heat-defying nests: kangaroos suck moisture from tender leaves, ears swivelling to locate a distant rumble: on the straight vermillion line that cleaves the sparse trees, a lone truck is approaching." An old man kangaroo suddenly appears in font of the truck looking like a man and Phil MacBride breaks all the rules trying to avoid the animal. This moment in time cleaves the MacBride family history into a before and after.
Who would think that one family-once respected and successful, could experience the extent of heartbreak, anguish and horror that followed that moment! Stedman takes the reader to dark places. Set chiefly in the 1960's, a period of time in Australia when societal rules were extremely rigid, A far-flung life encompasses amongst many themes: death, long convalescence, amnesia, incest, illegitimate birth, suicide, cross-dressing, cruelty, heroism, coming of age, romance, decisions about right and wrong and humane responses versus officiousness.
The characters are powerfully rendered. All are leading far-flung lives. Some are escaping horror elsewhere and wash-up at the station, some are born and bred there, some are townspeople, some are drawn out there working for mining companies and some are tied by love and duty to the station. All have been through the storms of life and all are looking for shelter. All have secrets. Matt, the quiet younger son is central to the novel. Having survived an accident that killed his father and brother, he developed amnesia. A shocking thing happened to him - a secret that could never be outed... Will it effect his ability to love..?
Other characters are strongly developed in all their strengths and weaknesses. Pete Peachey, the roo shooter, and the MacBride family have a long-term relationship of great loyalty. This kind of relationship, usually of few words but of much mutual, quiet support was not uncommon in station country. Loners found work and solitude escaping from urban areas to live on properties. Peachey was crucial to the lives of the MacBrides assisting them through the worst times and showing incredible strength of character while at the same time hiding an intense fragility. Characters in the town, like gossipy Myrtle in the post office and the new policeman who wants to dig up old files that were best left alone, represent a real threat to the MacBride family and the reader feels a visceral fear that the MacBride's fragile existence is going to be shattered. Stoic Lorna, the mother, knows part of the story. Some people are to be ever left in the dark. The question is - is it best to let some things just go? Is it better all around to keep secrets and let lives recover and flourish? What is the right and wrong? Great sacrifices are made in protecting people from the truth and burying the past. Great and quiet heroism is demonstrated.
Spanning a period from 1958-2000 CE, A far-flung life, is bookended by the strange arrival at Meredith Downs of a pearling lugger carried by a team of camels and its departure via helicopter and sling in 2000CE. This is a strange and almost surreal wonder that wraps around the story of the worst era for the MacBride family. Stedman looks back to generations before - to the..." people and kangaroos and bungarras" that have witnessed the life of the station and forward to the future. She places it all in the context of..."a timeless red landscape"...where people..."their deeds, good and bad"...were "destined to join the vast ocean of human forgetments."
What a beautiful, warm and wise book! What a powerful message! Trauma (and mighty trauma) can be overcome when there are kind, honourable, strong and wise people in our communities who look out for each other and make sure that we are safe even to their own peril and sacrifice.
As Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The paper palace says, A far-flung life is epic, grand, intimate and aching". This reader is still aching.
Themes: Australian outback sheep station life, Mining, Multi-generational family history, Shame, shifting social mores, incest, Suicide, love, loyalty, the outcast, judgement, sacrifice, secrets.
Wendy Jeffrey