Black Bones, Red Earth by Lee Richie is the story of a woman who had to fight and claw her way out of the darkness, just so she could live. Katherine was just a child when her mother was killed tragically and she was left with her father. When her father abandoned her as well, she was left looking for love where she would never be given it and she knew her life was going to be hard. So she did what anyone would do; she tried to forget her past and only looked forward. Now living in England, Katherine has tried to live life to the fullest, but it seems like her past is catching up to her. Something happened when she was living in Australia, something big, and it seems like she cannot run away from it anymore. She has to confront her past before she can move into the future. What is Katherine going to do now?

I loved the narrative of Black Bones, Red Earth by Lee Richie and I abundantly enjoyed the protagonist. With authors writing more and more stories about young couples or characters, it is refreshing to read a story where the protagonist is intelligent and older; there is a maturity to Katherine that makes her a worthy lead character. Her story is heartbreaking, but her strength incredible. She faces her fears and she makes sure never to hide from the things that scare her. She stood her ground, faced the music and tried her best to carve out a better future for herself. This is an amazing, really good novel, one that will remain in my mind for long.

Black Bones, Red Earth by Lee Richie is an epic historical novel set in 1950's Australia, where ten-year-old Katherine has been torn from her brother Archie and their orphanage in London and placed in the Outback under the tenuous care of a childless couple, Daisy and Lachlan Stuart. They had anticipated a boy, like the friend who encouraged them to take in a “Pommy kid” had gotten—two, in fact, to help on the homestead in a desolate landscape. Instead, they got Katherine, an unwanted child who attempts to carve out her own identity in a new and foreign life. When a suspected crime is committed, Katherine is forced to make tough decisions that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Lee Richie has written a beautifully profound and engrossing piece of literary fiction with Black Bones, Red Earth. It is gorgeous in its descriptions, which come to life in vivid detail as Katherine's life unfolds slowly with each turn of the page. She is a genuine dichotomy of fragility and strength, a victim of her circumstances but forcing herself into positions of control whenever she can. There is no sluggish middle despite the length of this book, with Katherine being confronted with harsh choices just when it appears she's finally found a sliver of happiness in her life. The writing is really quite elegant, sometimes even poetic, and each character is developed and layered and authentic. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough.