This engaging and beautifully written book recounts, and celebrates, the life of Ernie Dingo. Sally Dingo, Ernie's wife, tells this remarkable story effortlessly and with great understanding and passion.
Sally describes the hard life on the stations in Western Australia, working for white families and living in poverty. The children were always happy though, and Sally Dingo's writing evokes strong and vivid mental images - the kids running through the bushland, swimming in the creeks, collecting rocks and feathers and other treasures, playing games and tricks on one another. The constant changes and upheavals in their lives - moving from generous and loving "masters" to cruel and uncaring ones, transferring from tent homes to actual buildings, and then back again, from dining at tables one minute to eating on the ground alongside the dogs and the rubbish the next - their experiences are incredible. But Sally tells it how it was and shows that they made it as rich and happy and full as they could - and that although times were often difficult, there was always a lot of love and a lot of laughter.
Ernie's move from outback life to school, then his introduction to the world of acting is all outlined in this book. The unimaginable adjustment to life in fast-paced, sprawling Sydney and then his union with Sally - all make for an absolutely enjoyable and interesting read.
