Loosely woven in and around First Peoples’ traditions and lifeviews, the four novellas in A Series of White Lies follow successive generations of an odd patchwork quilt of a family.
Elders, Children, Flying Saucers and fences: In 1492 Christopher Columbus rode the wind. Unwittingly, he set in motion the smearing of European domination onto the Americas. Now, more than 500 years on, an ironic reversal of fortune is taking root. And, slowly, surely for our modern western civilization … everything is changing.
In a sleepy little prairie town the stilling of the ever-present wind is the first silent signaling.
A quietly defiant boy, Clify, from a privileged family; a whimsical young girl, Windy, from the poor side of town … the story follows their passages through childhood into adolescence, adulthood and finally into their elder years, in a world spun upside-down.
The story alludes to the ongoing challenges facing many of today’s first peoples. Alas, it comes up flat broke where answers are concerned. Instead, it aims to steer us toward what matters more …
A Day in the Life: A Day in the Life is the sparse tale of one single day in the life of an old man. For ancient Clify and his granddaughter there’s nothing out of the ordinary today, excepting perhaps that stranger who has shown up in town. Will this be just another everyday or will it turn out to be one like no other?
Circles: It’s no surprise to her. Not the first one anyway. But then another? And fresh on the heels of those two, yet one more? Initially for Rory it’s overwhelming. But quickly he is won over to thrive in the chaos and calamity the three youngsters bring to the once tranquil little blue house. Then one day, almost without warning, two of them are gone.
Expecting To Fly: “Just people.” Her simple words diffuse the escalating tension in a racially charged encounter. And with that, two naïve teenagers, Brigit and her brother, along with an irrelevant old street bum fuse into a formidable force. The three find themselves flying inescapably into a crazy-minded mission to help a broken city mend its ways.
