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Daughter of the River Country
- Narrated by: Lisa Maza
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
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Summary
From stolen childhood to remarkable leader. An inspirational true story of one of Australia's stolen aboriginal generation.
Born in country NSW in the 1940s, baby Dianne is immediately taken from her Indigenous parents and adopted by an Irish couple. Raised in the era of the 'White Australia' policy and widespread racism, Dianne grows up believing her adoptive mother, Val, is her birth mother. Val promises Dianne that when she turns 15, she will 'tell her a story'. But just months before Dianne's 15th birthday, Val dies.
Abandoned by her stepfather, Dianne is raped, sentenced to a girls' home and later forced to marry her rapist. She gives birth to a baby girl - the first of seven children - and goes on to endure years of horrific domestic violence at the hands of different partners, drug and alcohol addiction, and cruel betrayal by those closest to her. But miraculously her fighting spirit is not extinguished.
At the age of 29, Dianne learns she is Aboriginal and that her grandfather was William Cooper, a famous Aboriginal activist and community leader. She chooses to forgive the past and becomes a leader in her own right, dedicating her future to helping others who may not know they are Aboriginal, other 'missing people' just like her.
Daughter of the River Country is one woman's remarkable true story of abuse, survival and, ultimately, hope.
Critic reviews
"A compelling memoir about the power of love and staying the course." (Linda Burney, Australian MP)