'The world had changed. As far as the eye could see, the earth was red. It wasn't orange, or soil red. or brown red, or perhaps all of them at once. It was profound rich red, glittering deeply in the mid-morning light. She was vaguely aware of having known that somewhere in Australia the land was this colour but the reality of it was startling and stunning.'
'Hiam' is the story of a journey through both a psychic and geographic landscape, a journey through disintegration and loss. Hiam, an Arab migrant woman, abandons Adelaide to unravel her life and memories on the road North after her family and identity have been destroyed. In the course of the novel she weaves an identity our of past, present, stories, dreams and the Australian landscape with which she engages for the first time.
On one level, this is the story of a migrant's experience in a strange land, a novel which explores the pressures, the fragilities and strengths of exiled communities. It is also a story of universal human grief, individual courage and the will, not only to survive, but to live fully in the world.
Winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award.
