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Swallow the Air

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Swallow the Air

By: Tara June Winch
Narrated by: Tamala Shelton
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About this listen

When May’s mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty. However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn’t seem to want them. While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets out to find her father and her Aboriginal identity.

Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong.

Swallow the Air is an unforgettable story of living in a torn world and finding the thread to help sew it back together.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writers.

©2006 Tara June Winch (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Heartfelt Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking
All stars
Most relevant  
Intelligent kindness and courage brought to life. Extraordinary writing, words given breath. Makes clear how each and every Aboriginal person, living or passed, is precious to a better understanding of this country and what it means to have the privilege to be here.

Stunningly beautiful...

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This is one of the most poignant and lyrical stories I have come across. Actually a masterpiece of literature.
Perfectly narrated by Tamala Shelton I highly recommend this for every Australian.
It should be a standard school curriculum reader.

Excruciatingly beautiful

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The kind of book written & narrated so beautifully you feel as if your there with May.

Incredibly beautiful

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It read like a song. Thoughtful and poignant. The narrator was sensitive in her timing and tone.

highly recommend this audio book

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So many of these stories hit me deep in the feels. The combo of Winch and Shelton is utter perfection. I’m still learning my language, and no longer living on my own Country, so it’s the first time I’ve heard ‘Biami’ spoken out loud.
Books and their audio versions are so important for sharing knowledge and creating belonging. I could not be more grateful.

Truth

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… yet tinged throughout with hope. Uncle’s words said it all… a love letter to Country like no other.

Vivid, beautiful and heart wrenching …

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A poignant and tragic story. Brimming with evocative imagery woven through the choice and composition of words. Between the lines, truths are told of the fate of our First Nations people as a result of White colonialism. Yet I was left feeling hope for May Gibson and marveled at hers, and her people's resilience, in spite of it all. Thank you Tara June Winch, I loved it.

A beautiful piece of prose

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An extraordinarily gifted writer, I inhabited this story’s world in all its discomfort, reverence, sadness, knowledge and humour. What an education. One I recommend to every Australian. I’m deeply grateful for it. Tamara Shelton’s performance made it possible!

An extraordinary world in my own back yard.

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I adore the works of Tara June Winch and the combo of Tamala Shelton narrating completes it! Keep those home boodja stories coming sisters, let’s share them far and wide.

Match made perfectly

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So moved by this tale. Beautifully read by Tamala Shelton I listened whilst road tripping and it got under my skin and into my heart and then I realized I had found a whole new way of viewing my country. Tara June Winch is an epic storyteller. I can’t wait to hear the next one.

I cried big proper tears at the end.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.