Episode 51: Nikki Gemmell on her haunting new novel, The Ripping Tree

Nikki Gemmelll is known for her powerful, fearless writing. In her latest novel, The Ripping Tree, she writes about a feisty young English woman, Poss, who washes up on the shores of New South Wales in the early days of its settlement following a shipwreck. She is taken in by an apparently illustrious family who proceed to try to control her and bend her to their will. The family has a horrifying secret and when Poss uncovers it her life is endangered. Nikki talks here about the long history of attempts to silence and control strong women, finding your voice, and the dark heart at the centre of Australia’s colonial history. As timeless as it is provocative, The Ripping Tree is bound to start some important conversations about relations between men and women, and between black and white Australia.

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This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund