The Songmaster

1. Title
   
2. Copyright
   
3. Acknowledgements
   
4. The Start. . .
   
5. Barwon
   
6. Beth
   
7. In Court
   
8. Ardjani
   
9. Yandoo
   
10. The Artists
    
11. The Group
    
12. The Journey
    
13. Marrenyikka
    
14. To The Wandjina
    
15. Rowena
    
16. Omens
    
17. Hunter
    
18. Guyon Guyon
    
19. Confessions
    
20. Confrontation
    
21. Custody
    
22. Twelve Months Later. . .
    

PRAISE FOR
THE SONGMASTER

‘A book all Australians who love their country must read . . . much more than an exciting novel . . . You’ll leave
The Songmaster
and the Kimberley with reluctance, a wiser and better person.’
PHILLIP KNIGHTLEY
Author

‘Right from the start you know you’re in for a great read.
The Songmaster
is engaging, entertaining, escapist – a richly rewarding story from Australia’s leading popular fiction writer.’
QUENTIN BRYCE AO
Principal
The Women’s College, University of Sydney

‘It’s daring, it’s controversial, it’s a great story and it’s unputdownable . . . what more can I say about
The Songmaster
other than I wish I’d written it.’
BRYCE COURTENAY
Author

‘
The Songmaster
makes available in an entertaining and easily accessed cast of characters and events, the profound clash of cultures we all inherit. We would all benefit from the cathartic journey undertaken by Susan Massey.
The Songmaster
is a tale for our times.’
JACK THOMPSON AM
Actor

‘The Songmaster
will make an important contribution to the whole process of reconciliation between the original inhabitants of this land and those of us who have arrived more recently. My prayer is that many a reader will be moved by it.’
THE MOST REVEREND DR PETER CARNLEY
Archbishop of Perth and Metropolitan of Western Australia

‘A rollicking yarn about Aboriginal reconciliation? I’d like to read that! Well, here it is. A racy read, no pun intended. If you’ve been trying to fathom all those headlines about native title . . . do yourself a favour. Enjoy.’
RAY MARTIN
TV presenter

‘A cultural experience which embodies the two laws governing Australia . . . this book is a must read for those of us who call Australia home.’
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MARY ANN BIN-SALLIK
Deputy Dean, Faculty Aboriginal and Islander Studies, University of South Australia

Di Morrissey travelled to the Kimberley in 1996 to research
The Songmaster
and is indebted to the Ngarinyin people and their advisers for their assistance.

Australia’s most popular woman novelist, Di Morrissey is well known as a TV presenter on the original ‘Good Morning Australia’. She has also been a journalist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. Di now lives and writes in Byron Bay, NSW, in between travelling to research her books. She is the author of six previous bestsellers,
Heart of the Dreaming, The Last Rose of Summer, Follow the Morning Star, The Last Mile Home, Tears of the Moon
and
When the Singing Stops.
Her latest novel is
Scatter the Stars.

Di Morrissey can be visited at her website:

http://www.dimorrissey.com

Also by Di Morrissey

Heart of the Dreaming
The Last Rose of Summer
Follow the Morning Star
The Last Mile Home
Tears of the Moon
When the Singing Stops
The Songmaster
Scatter the Stars
Blaze
The Bay
Kimberley Sun
Barra Creek
The Reef

First published 1997 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
First published 1998 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited 1 Market Street, Sydney

Reprinted 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 (twice), 2003 (twice), 2004, 2005, 2006(twice)

Copyright © Di Morrissey 1997

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Morrissey, Di.
The songmaster.

ISBN 0 330 36045 0.

I. Title.

A823.3

Typeset in 11/13pt Sabon by Post Pre-press Group
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

These electronic editions published in 2007 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

The Songmaster

Di Morrissey

The Songmaster
is a work of fiction.
While it is inspired by certain events, places
and people, it remains a fictitious work, drawn
from my imagination.
This book is written in the hope it may forge
closer links between indigenous and other
Australians.

To a group of extraordinary Australians –

David Mowaljarlai and the Ngarinyin people
of the Kimberley, Western Australia.

Hannah Rachel Bell, for being my friend and
‘cultural interpreter’ and for providing
Jennifer’s words for ‘women’s business’.

Susan Bradley, for being the catalyst and great
camp-fire raconteur.

Jutta Malnic, for her explanation of Dulugun.

Paddy Neowarra, for clarifying the position of
displaced Kimberley Aborigines.

My darling daughter, Gabrielle, who shared
the journey with me, along with –

Alec and Lorraine Shand, Peter Harrison, Jim
and Sandy Macken, Susanna Lobez, and those
of the first Bush University, who were followed
by The Most Reverend Dr Peter Carnley,
Archbishop of Perth, Primate of Australia,
business leader Tony Coote AM, BSc, MBA
and those of the second Bush University.