Thank you to Melbourne University Press for a copy of Kindred, in exchange for my honest review.

Shortly after receiving my copy of Kindred, I had the pleasure of attending an author talk by Kate Legge. Kate spoke passionately about her book , and how excited she was to tell this amazing love story between two extraordinary people. She has obviously invested a lot of herself, both physically and emotionally, in this book. I really wanted to love this book.

MUP, through their imprint The Miegunyah Press, have created a beautifully presented book: hard cover with a sturdy dust jacket. The text is supported by wonderfully reproduced original black & white photos. It is obvious that a lot of love has gone into publishing this book.

However, I found the writing style very hard going, and I kept asking myself “Who is the intended audience for this book?” It is way too detailed for an average reader. Each chapter contains dozens of in-text references; some chapters contain over 70 notes! In total there are 20 pages of notes! In my opinion, this indicates an academic audience, and yet the subtitle reads: “A Cradle Mountain Love Story”. I actually asked Kate who her intended audience was, and she said she didn’t know. I feel this has created a book that doesn’t fit well anywhere: it’s confused. It is apparent that Legge has done enormous research, but has felt compelled to include every single detail that she discovered. This makes for a very laborious read. There are sentences that go on, and on, and on, for example:

“The shroud of clouds a curse, they trooped through the valley, pausing at the clear, pebbled stream that flows from Dove Lake beneath the Cradles into Dove River, scooping seedlings of King Billy pine, turning this way and that to admire the citizens of this native garden, catching the scent of pale pink boronia and the denser, sweeter smelling buds of its kin Boronia rhomboid: ‘At the river’s edge swayed merrily the white flowering pine leafed daisy - Olearia pinifolia - quick rushing streams almost hidden in the long grass run in all directions and little stagnant pools, bordered by thick sphagnum beds…In our eager search for specimens we did not notice that a thick fog had surrounded us and we had passed the saddle which connects the ridge we ascended…it was necessary to retrace our steps and we succeeded in getting a glimpse through the broken clouds of the little horn…enabling us to preserve a proper directions.’” Gasp - that is one sentence!

This is really disappointing, as the story is thrilling, and has so much scope to be an exciting read. Kate and Gustav are fascinating people, and should be widely known. I would love Kate Legge to have another go at writing this story, editing out all the technically correct geographical and botanical terms, and the blow by blow descriptions of every single step Kate and Gustuv and others took on their hikes in these beautiful places.

I’d love for her to distill the essence of this beautiful love story, and make it accessible to a wider audience. I feel it also has scope to be made into a wonderful picture book for young readers. This is an Australian story that needs to be heard by as many people as possible.