I ought to say, first of all, that this is an excellent literary novel - poetic, carefully crafted and memorable.  It is also one of the hardest novels I have ever forced myself to read.

My difficulty was not because of any flaws in its quality but because the book's theme and story are so confronting, and tragic, and emotionally demanding that the reader is continually under challenge.  While it is published in Lothian's Young Adult collection, it demands a response and a commitment by the reader that may be more likely in advanced readers and adults.

Poison under their lips is set in Queensland in 1876 and focuses on Arthur Wilbraham, an idealistic young cadet posted to the notorious Native Police.  Through his eyes and his diary entries we follow the events surrounding the murders of, firstly, a native stockman in custody and then a whole tribe in a planned massacre.

This is the first level of the novel's confrontation - the brutal history of "Native Clearance" in Queensland in those early days of settlement.  But Mark Svendsen takes this tragedy much deeper for us.  Through regular excerpts from actual newspaper articles, letters, and court reports, he establishes a chilling reminder of the attitudes that drove the deliberate acts of the squatters and the police.  The authentic, matter-of-fact way that the extinction of Australian Aborigines was accepted as inevitable, and then planned and enacted, is eventually more confronting than the events of the fictional storyline.

The novel is centred on the personal trauma and confusion of eighteen year old Arthur Wilbraham.  Keen to impress his sober and religious family by his proper attention to duty, he is shocked by the drunken and callous commander to whom he is assigned.  Caught between this sense of duty and his conscience he stumbles along confused, unable to understand either the white attitudes or the aboriginal culture.  When he falls in love with an aboriginal servant girl, it is in his dream world of European romance stories - she simply does not understand him.

The reader's final challenge from Poison under their lips is literary.  The writing style is authentically 19^th century.  As it is in diary format, it uses Arthur's stilted, formal language and tone to express itself.  There are frequent references to Biblical quotes and stories as well as the ancient Greek myths that would have been a major part of Arthur's education.  It is beautifully crafted but certainly requires an effort by the reader to get the benefit of that crafting.

The effort is well worthwhile.  Poison under their lips is a story that must be told, as well as an excellent piece of literary creation.  It is a difficult experience and may not be appreciated by many readers, but will be memorable for those who do.

Review by David Beagley

© 2002 David Beagley