You can read (and download) a free sample of our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe by visiting our page on Amazon. [This link is for the Australian store. If you live elsewhere, you need to make sure that you are in the appropriate store for your country or region. If required, you can find more information here.]
After some initial information about the book, the Amazon sample includes the Preface, which describes my journey into the writing of the book and provides insights into why I took this journey. The Prologue initially focuses on Noongar people and their culture, before summarising the colonisation of Western Australia by the British and its impact on Aboriginal people in the state.
In Chapter 1, I describe the history of Carrolup Native Settlement in the South West of Western Australia, including how it came to be developed. The Settlement was opened in 1915 and closed in 1922. It was opened again in 1940, where I end the chapter.
Chapter 2, The Very Lowest Standards, focuses on the period of 1940-46 at Carrolup. It is based primarily on a description of conditions on the Settlement by one of the children who lived there, Revel Cooper, and School Journal notes made by teacher Mrs Olive Elliot, who spent just over a year there from 1945. Revel Cooper plays a major role in the book and becomes one of the most famous of the Carrolup artists.
In Chapter 3, we learn about Noel White, the teacher who was to inspire the children of Carrolup to create their beautiful landscape drawings, and his family.
The free sample ends in Chapter 4, but not before a description of her family’s arrival at Carrolup by Noelene White, daughter of Noel and Lily White. I have spent many enjoyable hours discussing life at Carrolup and looking through Noelene’s family’s memorabilia since our first meeting in 2016.
Why not check out the free sample on Amazon and decided whether this is a book you would like to read? It is easy to purchase the book on Amazon, Apple or Kobo. You can learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.
Left – Right: Janette (Jenny), Noelene and Ross White after arriving at Carrolup in 1946. Noel & Lily White Collection.