Adam Thompson's Born into This is a striking collection of hard-edged stories set primarily in the Australian state of Tasmania. Wrestling with issues of race, colonialism and individual agency, every story features Aboriginal characters, and the various experiences and complexities of this identity (which the author shares) form the heart of the stories' combined impact. The collection is loosely linked by recurring characters and settings: an act of angry protest at the center of one story reappears as a minor annoyance in another. An island on the Bass Strait is home to a family over generations.
The collection opens with "The Old Tin Mine," a story about a bitter, aging guide at a "survival camp" for city youth, who may be nearing the end of his career. "Honey" offers cold, brutal, satisfying justice in the face of hate. In "Aboriginal Alcatraz," a man wrestles with a life-changing decision in the midst of a storm, building to an ironic conclusion. In the title story, a young woman fights an inherited losing battle involving eucalyptus plants. These punchy tales question family ties, infidelity, superstition and who has the right to claim Aboriginal ancestry.
Thompson's characters are stoic, taciturn, often blue-collar. Their reactions to these challenges range from rage to lethargy; their stark stories are frequently, quietly, brutal. It is not all bleak: Born into This contains as well dark humor and even slim strands of hope. The overall effect is understated: simple, unglamorous lives and events crescendo toward a thought-provoking and memorable whole. This is a haunting debut collection by a skilled writer. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia