Strandloper

Alan Garner has included the legends and folklore of Cheshire in a number of his books but in Strandloper he also explores Aboriginal beliefs and legends. The main character is William Buckley who was born in Cheshire in 1776 but in 1803 was transported to Sullivan's Bay in Australia where he escaped and lived with Aborigines for 32 years until 1835 when he met a party of white men, including John Batman, who were exploring the area. William Buckley died in Hobart in 1856. In Australia the escaped convict, William Buckley, has become a legend in his own right.

However, this book is not a work of historical fiction. Instead the author has used the bare outline of the story of the man from Cheshire who lived with Aborigines on the other side of the world for more than 30 years and absorbed their culture to explore the similarities (and differences) of belief systems and folklore.

Strandloper is divided into sections - William's life in Cheshire and his involvement with old community traditions; transportation to Sullivan Bay; arrival at Sullivan Bay and his attempt to escape; William's assimilation with tribal people; meeting white people again and (in the book) his return to Cheshire.

Reading this book it was interesting seeing how a story that I knew was incorporated into the plot. However what I really liked about the book was the author's use of language which, in places, reads as a poem. Especially in the section on William's life with Aboriginal tribes, the words flow beautifully taking the reader into a new world.

This is a book that, I suspect, should be read more than once to fully appreciate and enjoy how the language develops the story. I loved reading this book.

NB:  A strandloper is an African bird (plover or sandpiper). William's friend, Edward, calls him a strandloper as William always has to be busy and on the move.

Culture Victoria - William Buckley
Australian Dictionary of Biography - William Buckley
William Buckley's escape - State Library of Victoria