I really enjoyed listening to this. Narrator done a great job. The audio went at a great pace and kept my attention throughout. I love historical fiction but usually stick to ww2 type books set in Europe so this was a lovely change. It had me going down rabbit holes on Google!
I loved the development of the main female. Character. I felt like I knew her and felt all the emotion with her as she navigated a very difficult childhood. I’d highly recommend this book, especially if you are a historical fiction enthusiast, and I would imagine this would be just as good in reading book format.

This was a truly fabulous book that I loved from beginning to end. At times it is not always an easy story to listen to, with its inherent racism and sexism at the beginning of the story, but it is important these stories are told.

It starts off in the Australian outback in the 1950s with a heartbreaking story. We are then advanced to modern day England as the story comes to a total tear-jerking ending back in Australia.

In between there is a great roller-coaster journey for the reader to go on. This is such a fabulous book and story and I do wonder why it has not become a more popular book. I certainly recommend it with out reservation to those that love high quality historical fiction, love stories and well-told stories. Just be prepared for one big emotional journey throughout, and for a book which will stay with you well beyond reading it.

I also have to commend the narrator, who does a sensational job narrating this book. My favourite audiobook of the year so far.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Published: 02/24/20
Narrator: Sandy Gore

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial Audio for accepting my request to read and review Black Bones, Red Earth.

Wow. A week later and I still feel connected to the characters. I had the audiobook that was narrated beautifully by Sandy Gore. The story is told by the main character through her generous life span. While life is ups and downs for some, this was not the case for Katherine, the main character. She had so many lows, at one point I didn't think I would finish. The writing drew me in. I became a witness -- I wanted to scream, I wanted to help her, I wanted someone to help her. As the story went on so did the realization there are children abused and sold all over this world. While the backdrop is Australia 1950s, the pain is real today anywhere.

Richie writes a realistic story. I felt the pain, the fear and the moments of happiness. The genre is historical fiction and based on real events, the book itself is timeless. The ending was truly satisfying.

Published in 2020, this has been on my shelf for just a few months, I'm surprised this hasn't garnered attention.

*** ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ***

Wow! What a beautiful book this is.  Black Bones, Red Earth by Lee Richie is historical fiction inspired by true events during World War II and beyond. I think a combination of a good narrator and good writing made this book have a big impact on me, and I feel like at one point I'd forgotten it was fiction.

We follow Katherine, whose mother dies in an air raid and whose father doesn't want her. As a result, she is shipped over to Australia to be 'adopted' by an Australian family. I put adopted in inverted commas because her new parents don't seem to want a daughter; they want a worker for their farm. We follow her story, full of tragedy and loss but also love, through to the modern day. While aware of the prejudice that Aboriginals face in Australia, this book has made me want to learn more as I realise how little I really know (i.e., orphans shipped off to a foreign land???). I would definitely recommend this book and the audiobook too!

I am in the minority on this one. I blame my rubbish attention span (waiting for surgery in a fortnight), as I had to keep replaying this audiobook over and over as I couldn't stay engaged with it. I found the narrator's voice so monotonous, and I wasn't gripped by the story at all.
I am so glad other people loved it more.

Black Bones, Red Earth is a heartbreaking novel that moves from 1950’s outback Australia to present day Cumbria. Kate and her brother are sent to Australia from a British orphanage following the end of the Second World War. Upon arrival they are separated with Kate being sent to an outback sheep station. Her life is hard and she is treated with little compassion. She makes friends with some of the local indigenous people but following a tragic incident she flees the country. In the present day, Kate’s past is brought crashing back to her and she feels that she has to try and put things right.
I found this book utterly compelling for several reasons including the horrific way many British children were moved to Australia without their knowledge or consent, as well as the appalling way indigenous people were treated in their own country. It has humour, historical context and fascinating characters. Highly recommended.

This is a great story and the narration is very good. I would recommend this recorded book to anyone who likes to listen to good books and great narration.

A brief romance that lasts a lifetime twined with love, hope, hardship, cruelty, and tragedy and sacrifice. Definitely a 3.75 stars. I listened to the audiobook through the NetGalley app. It depicts the struggles of black and white culture.

Black Bones, Red Earth by Lee Richie is NOT a book to be missed!

It is a masterpiece of vivid and raw emotional storytelling on so many levels that I found it impossible not to become completely intertwined and invested in this story from the first to the last sentence.

From a little girl’s recounting of the horrific life she experiences early on, through the “Golden Age” and every enthralling experience between, there is never a lull, never a lag in story pace, The extremely talented narrator Sandy Gore makes the audio version definitely the choice of format.

No need to run through a synopsis - this story based on a true life account was written brilliantly, with moving, thought-provoking dialogue, presented and read in an unparalleled believable way that is rare to experience.

My vote would be Book of the Year in this genre (I hope it nominated), and if I could, I would give it MORE than 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and Lee Richie for an AAC in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

This audiobook is beautifully narrated by Australian actress, Sandy Gore. It is written from the perspective of Katherine who is looking back at her life, particularly from the ages of 8 to 18, when she has been brought to live in the Australian outback. While she only spends a fraction of her life there, she is forever haunted by her time there. Katherine's early years are filled with trauma and strife, and she makes some decisions she comes to regret. In the end, however, she is able to make peace with her past.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to the audiobook version of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

First of all, I loved the audio narrator for this book.
This story follows an orphan named Katherine who is sent from her home in the UK to Australia. I loved the descriptions of rural Australia. This story explores racial issues and social justice. I was deeply invested in the characters and the end definitely made me tear up.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me access to this book. I really enjoyed it.

The historical novel "Black Bones and Red Earth" reads like an autobiography. The first part begins when Katherine, at 8 years old, loses both of her parents. Her father abandoned her when a buzz bomb in London murdered her mother. There was an official proposal to move the vast majority of war orphans to Australia, with the promise that the large number of childless adults there would provide them with loving and secure homes. Regrettably, these kids had already been bought and sold as aboriginal slaves by the time they reached the Land Down Under.

Australian actor Sandy Gore read the novel with the same worn-out, unhappy attitude that Katherine had by this point in her long, laborious life. Rich characterizations by author Lee Richie convey a clearly thought-out authenticity. The production of this audiobook was excellent.

When Katherine is 78 years old, the second part begins. Now in England, she is content and joyful. Although she has kept her history private, it hasn't prevented the repercussions of her past naive decisions from reappearing, and the lies, deceptions, and terrors of that time nearly brought her to her knees. Even though the emotional wounds have mostly healed, the physical ones still exist. Complications are catastrophic when long-buried secrets are discovered.

I wasn't ready for the author to push me to such emotional lengths when I first started reading this book. I find it incredibly fulfilling when I can relate to the main character in a novel on a deep level. Yet I had to pause reading this novel multiple times to catch my breath since it is so masterfully crafted and thought-provoking. It has absolutely no issues, in my opinion. Do you believe this tragedy will have a satisfying ending? I appreciate BooksGoSocial Audio and NetGalley sending me this audiobook in advance for review. My opinion is both voluntary and honest.

Everyone interested in the difficulties people face in life and how they manage to live through them should read this book. I suggest listening to audio books to anyone who has trouble focusing on printed material or who has vision issues. Warning: Richie shows the cruel and oppressive violence employed to maintain the power of some preferred social groups. I advise searching for a different perspective if you are sensitive to this reality.

What an amazing book. It is full of emotions, fantastic and horrible events. It blows my mind how First Nations were/are being treated. Things that were done and how they were treated (not just in Australia) is aweful.

The only con I have is that you can hear the turning of the pages in the recording. Other than that everything was great.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

WOW what an absolutely brilliant audio book. Sandy Gore, narrator was epic! She brings heart felt feeling to every single word. Her emotional attachment to the story is obvious. She gets the anguish just right and I literally just couldn't stop listening. I cried, I laughed and I cried again. The brutality that Katherine faces when she arrives in Australia. Not only does she end up in the middle of the outback she is treated horrifically by the family she goes to live with. All she wants is to be loved and she soon finds out even love can not always save you.
The treatment of the indigenous people of Australia is truly shocking.. Having their children forcibly removed because they were deemed not capable of raising children. I was utterly heart broken at some of the issues raised in this outstanding book. An absolute must read.
Lee Richie is an outstanding author who doesn't shy away from difficult topics. He is straight to the point and boy does he get that point across superbly. Although a hard listen at times I adored this book from start to finish.

Lee Richie did amazing with this book. The story follows Katherine’s life growing up as an orphan and foster child in outback Australia where she has to overcome heartache in search for happiness and love. An absolute must read/listen of a heart-wrenching story. Loved it.

I loved the narrator of this story of the harsh reality of orphans shipped out of England to be rid of a problem. Despite what seems like an obvious flaw in the plot, I really enjoyed the story. It shows racism in all its cruelty and injustice. Not all its victims can rise to the challenge like the characters here did. But it gives hope for a better world.

Set in Australia in the 1950s, this is a heartbreaking, but inspiring historical fiction about loss, resilience, and love. Thank you for the opportunity to review this audio adaption.

*Many thanks to Lee Richie, BooksGoSocial Audio, and NetGalley for a free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.*
Historical fiction set in the second half of the 20th century in Australian outback with several well-presented themes such as Children Migration programme or children taken away from Aboriginal parents in order to make them 'proper' Australians.
The novel starts with a story of a young girl, Katherine, who, together with her brother, are transported from England over to Australia in the mid-1940s through a programme run by CC aimed at finding orphans a home. She finds it difficult to adapt to new life and those around her give her home but not love. Later on, she learns about the abuse towards the First Nation and comes to appreciate their cultural heritage.
Book recommend to those who enjoy historical fiction well-set in the period depicted and are eager to learn about it.

I loved this book because it reminded me of some of the Dickens books that I have enjoyed through the years. The characters are believable ... they a not perfect, but who are we to judge!

Synopsis

Black Bones, Red Earth, is the harrowing, yet ultimately uplifting tale of a child’s search for happiness and a woman’s test of faith.

I listened to this via Audiobook Written by by Lee Richie
Narrated by Sandy Gore

1951: Katherine’s journey begins in the unforgiving landscape of the Australian outback. Having been abandoned by her father after her mother is killed in a London air raid, Katherine finds little sympathy when she is consigned to an austere life in the care of Lachlan and Daisy Stuart on an isolated property beyond Broken Hill. There is little tenderness in the ten-year-old’s life until Aboriginal station hands offer their friendship, but love comes at a deadly price.
Current day: Now living an idyllic life in the north of England, for almost sixty years Katherine has hidden her past. But when an old letter is discovered, she is forced to relive her traumatic years under the Australian sun and explain who died and why she had to run. However, there’s a twist in the tale that will bring her once again to her knees. Will returning to Australia help her truly find peace?

This is a historical drama set in Australia during the 1950’s Katherine is 10 years old and goes to live on an outback property After finishing this audiobook I felt the title was apt
The narrator is Sandy Gore Her narration brought the story to life and aided my enjoyment of the book Moreover Lee Richie presented the Australian Outback in glorious detail I really enjoyed listening to these descriptions
Katherine as an older lady recounts her story The difficulties of outback life are laid bare Katherine and her brother Archie were sent from Britain to Australia as orphans as part of the Children Migration programme underwritten by the Catholic Church On arrival Katherine and Archie are separated
While this story is historical it is also a life story that captures the emotions of the time and place While Katherines time in Australia was short the time was engrained on her life Katherine finds the indigenous workers on the farm are kind and she learns from their culture
It is important to note this book may be triggering for some as it contains descriptions of Sexual Abuse
I was warmed by the conclusion and I will seek to learn more about Aboriginal culture I would never have chosen this audiobook myself but am so glad I listened to it and would highly recommend it