The Upwelling by Lystra Rose

Title: The Upwelling

Author: Lystra Rose

Genre: Fiction, Time-Slip

Publisher: Hachette Australia/Lothian

Published: 31^st August 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 390

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: ‘A deeply immersive young adult fantasy and an enthralling debut. It’s a privilege to walk this new path into the oldest of stories’ AMIE KAUFMAN, New York Times-bestselling author

A CAPTIVATING YOUNG ADULT DEBUT FROM A BLACK&WRITE! WRITING FELLOWSHIP WINNER

Three misfits.
Two warring spirits.
One chance to save the world.

Kirra is the great-granddaughter of a truth dreamer, and, like Great Nanna Clara, no-one believes her night-visions are coming true. When an end-of-the-world nightmare forces her to surf where her brother was killed, she time-slips into a place that could ruin her life, here, and in the Dreaming.

Narn is the son of a well-respected Elder and holds an enviable role in his saltwater clan. Though he bears the marks of a man, many treat him like an uninitiated boy, including the woman he wants to impress.

Tarni is the daughter of a fierce hunter and the custodian of a clever gift. Somehow, she understands Kirra when no-one else can. But who sent this unexpected visitor: a powerful ancient healer or an evil shadow-spirit?

When death threatens all life, can a short-sighted surfer, a laidback dolphin caller and a feisty language unweaver work together to salvage our future?

~*~

Kirra, the great-granddaughter of a truth dreamer, has been having night-visions that are coming true. The problem is, nobody believes her, and she’s set to surf in a competition in Jellurgal Point on the Gold Coast – the same place her brother Wuz died at ten years ago. Kirra and her family are descended from the Yugambeh culture and people – and they straddle their Yugambeh culture and the Western culture they live in. She’s dreading the surfing competition, and she slips through time on a wave during it all, back to a time before Australia – referred to as Wallulljagun by Tarni and Narn – was colonised. Here, in the past and the Dreaming, Kirra meets Tarni and Narn, part of a saltwater clan of the Yugambeh culture. Narn can call dolphins, and Tarni has a gift that allows her to unravel language – she’s the only one who can understand Kirra. But with Kirra’s arrival, there is a threat. The man Tarni is set to join – Jiemba – has links to the Malung – an evil spirit. Soon, Kirra, Narn, and Tarni are threatened, and must set out to stop the death threat that seeks to take over their clan and people. But Kirra is short-sighted and from the future, and none of the three are sure they can trust each other at first. So –  can they work together to save everyone and salvage their futures?

As a non-Indigenous reader, I came to this novel with an open mind, ready to gain more insight and understanding into the oldest continuing culture on earth – at least, some parts of it relevant to the Yugambeh people. This is an immersive book, so even as a non-surfer and non-Indigenous person, I felt as though I was right there with Kirra, Tarni and Narn, experiencing what they experienced, feeling what they felt, and bearing witness to their lives and culture in a way that is educational, informative, and captivating. Lystra Rose has a voice that pulls you along through the novel, weaving a beautiful and lyrical story of the Dreaming and the Yugambeh people in an open and inclusive way. It is a story about connection – the connections we feel to family, to where we live, to the land or the sea, and to who we are. I felt that it had a sense of identity and discovery of identity in it too – that there will be things that we all encounter throughout our lives in a variety of ways. It is this aspect that I saw shine through Kirra’s story as she came to understand where she had come from, and figured out where she might fit in with Tarni, but at the same time, how she could bring culture back into her life in the time she lives in. And for Tarni and Narn – I loved reading about their journeys, what they did to take on the Malung and change the fate of their people.

The story allowed the flaws and strengths of each character to shine through, and this gave us an understanding of where Kirra, Tarni and Narn each came from, as well as where they might end up, but this was always a mystery to untangle, threads that dangled and needed to be followed to finally find out what would happen and how – if – things would be resolved for each of them. Each chapter is told in first person and alternates between the three perspectives in first person present tense, which gives the story a sense of immediacy, and I think, at least based on my experience, pulls you through the story faster, at a decent pace that sees you traverse physical landscape and journey through the mind and spirit worlds, into the Dreaming. I could feel everything Kirra, Tarni and Narn felt, and longed to help them, even though I knew it was a journey they had to take alone with an ever-growing, ever-present threat that could appear at any time and take everything they knew away.

And then at the end, I was left wondering if there would be a sequel – which I was delighted to find out there would be upon reading the author’s note at the back, as the way The Upwelling ended hinted that things hadn’t quite been resolved, so I reckon there is more in store for Kirra, Narn and Tarni – it will be really cool to see what it is!