After Story

By: Larissa Behrendt

Narrated by: Tamala Shelton, Shari Sebbens

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

When a mother and daughter take the overseas trip of a lifetime, they discover that the past is never quite behind them.

When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother, Della, on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.

Twenty-five years earlier, the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols - including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf - Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.

Ambitious and engrossing, After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces between. We can be ready to listen, but are we ready to hear?

Prof. Larissa Behrendt is a Eualeyai/Kamillaroi woman. She is the professor of law and director of research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney.

She is admitted to the Supreme Court of the ACT and NSW as a barrister. Larissa is a land commissioner at the Land and Environment Court and the alternate chair of the Serious Offenders Review Board, a member of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia and a founding member of the Australian Academy of Law. She is the chair of the Humanities and Creative Arts panel of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. She is the author of several books on Indigenous legal issues.

She won the 2002 David Uniapon Award and a 2005 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for her novel Home. Larissa is a board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art, a board member of Tranby Aboriginal College and a director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. She was named as 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year.

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©2021 Larissa Behrendt (P)2021 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.

Critic reviews

"A moving story of going far away to find home again - a beautiful, hopeful book." (Kate Grenville)

"A literary tour that speaks to the imagination, connecting the cannon of English literature to the lives of a mother and daughter whose own stories have been untold, Larissa weaves an exquisite tapestry that talks to our common humanity that lives within the stories we collect, treasure and share." (Rachel Griffiths)

"After Story is a work of great originality. It is a tale of discovery and understanding, envisioned through the shared experiences of Della and Jasmine on a journey to the 'old country', a place that is not theirs. Through Della and Jasmine we come to understand the depths of familial love, with poignancy, humour and true storytelling." (Tony Birch)

Great Book

I Loved this book. Beautifully narrated and written. I wanted it to go on longer. I loved the contrast of the small Australian town and the fabulous world of famous literary figures from England and I would love to go on that tour! I will be purchasing hard copies for friends birthdays.

A fantastic book!

This is one of the best books I have “read”/ listened to. The narrators, Tamala Shelton and Shari Sebbens, were BRILLIANT!! I sincerely congratulate the author Larissa Behrendt.