6th July, 2011

DARREN CRONSHAW

Heartland: A Parable

Charles Fivaz

BookPal, 2010

ISBN-13: 978-1921681639

"Heartland is an enjoyable read as a story. It makes no explicit Christian connections. But at a deeper level it is challengingly relevant for indigenous relations, ecumenism and interreligious understanding."

If we would need four to eight planets for everyone in the world to live like we in Australia do, what would it be like to live in a post-industrial-reliant world? Charles Fivaz's Heartland: A Parable offers one imaginative 22nd century narrative.

Indigenous people have returned to a subsistence hunting and gathering lifestyle, but four different tribes still suffer from themes of our day – pride, exclusion, distrust.  The writer, from his experience in South Africa and Australia, knows what it is to experience prejudice, conflict and exclusion. He explores yearnings for journeying, belonging, and dreaming and acting for a better world.

The story at one level one is of a young girl, Hannah, on an unexpected and spontaneous journey of exploration as she comes of age. She is searching for her identity and her tribal origins. One of her diary entries describes her gladness to learn of her history: “These are my roots. It’s about where I come from. My story is older than I thought and has unfolded in ways I never knew about”.

Always a step behind, her father, Adam, relentlessly and lovingly pursues her. But he has to also accept the grief of earlier losing his wife, and the depression and desperation that caused.

Friends along the way help them on their search.  At crucial times of almost giving up, companions appear to help them through their “dark night of the soul”. Stories from these guides foster calmness and courage for the journey.

The communities they travel through grapple with tolerance and inclusion, and have been forgetting and relearning sustainable farming practices. Some are willing to learn from and rely on others, and a Master Farmer figure inspires a dream of cooperation between farms and tribes.

Thus Hannah’s journey is her rite of passage, and inspires truth and reconciliation in her community from a surprising final source at the centre of the desert.  

Heartland is an enjoyable read as a story. It makes no explicit Christian connections. But at a deeper level it is challengingly relevant for indigenous relations, ecumenism and interreligious understanding. It invites pilgrimage and listening, spiritual retreat and sustainable living. It is an invitation to embrace a dream of unity and cooperation for the faith, land and environment that we share in common.

Darren coordinates leadership training with the Baptist Union of Victoria and pastors Auburn Baptist Church. This review was originally published in 'Witness: The Voice of Victorian Baptists', November 2010.

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