Maraglindi: Guardian Spirit
£15.00
1850, a small town in Australia: Glindi, an Aboriginal woman, gives birth to a daughter, the result of a rape by a white man. She names her Maraglindi, meaning “Glindi’s sorrow,” but the girl is a joy to all those around her. She has the gift of love.
During her short life, she encounters everything intolerant, cruel Victorian society can throw at people it considers to be animals. She surmounts the savagery of the white invader by conquering hate with love.
Maraglindi: child of the land, fruit of an evil deed, and instrument of love.
Mary Tod
Maraglindi – the title of this new novel from author Bob Rich – embodies a promise to readers, the promise of a story that is both magical and transformative. Expect to be mesmerized by the main character, Maraglindi, and the way her life unfolds in Victorian Australia. Expect to be outraged at the way whites treated the aboriginal people. Expect to be touched by the power of love and hope. Highly recommended.
M. K. Tod is the author of many works of historical fiction, the latest being Paris In Ruins.
10 in stock
Max Overton
I read Maraglindi: Guardian Spirit in its previous incarnation a few years ago, but its message has remained with me. It is a novel of Australia, but it is not limited to that beautiful country; the message applies to all men and women everywhere and in every time. Couched within the framework of Christianity, it applies equally to any religion that preaches love and acceptance. Reincarnation is a thread that runs through the story, and shows how our actions are not limited to one life but reverberate through many incarnations as we strive to learn the lessons necessary for our spiritual growth.
The protagonist, a young Aboriginal girl, Maraglindi, is born of an act of hate, but she typifies Love in its most elemental form, and all who come in contact with her during her short life are touched by this love. But this is so much more than just a story with a message; it is a history. Maraglindi: Guardian Spirit is a story set against the backdrop of Colonial Australia, where we get to experience the lives of rich and poor, privileged and deprived, the white overlords and the downtrodden, dispossessed Aboriginal First People of this glorious country.
Maraglindi: Guardian Spirit is a book I would not hesitate to recommend, not just as a story that describes the racial discord of earlier times, but also as one that holds out a hope that things can be different. We live in times where hate is rearing its ugly head once more, so we need stories like this to remind us that hate can be overcome, not by violence and more hatred, but by love and acceptance.
Max Overton is the author of over forty books, many of them historical fiction.
Margaret Tanner
Set in 1850s Australia.
Glindi, an Aaboriginal woman, gives birth to a baby girl she names Maraglindi (Glindi's sorrow).
Born amidst violent times when Aboriginal men were treated worse than their Masters' dogs, the women suffered even more. Their only use was to satisfy their owner's lust and keep his house in order.
Against this horrific background Bob Rich has woven a rich tapestry of love, hate, decency and depravity. Once you start reading you won't be able to put it down until you have devoured every word. It is quite obvious the author has done extensive historical research before he wrote this story.
Highly recommended.
Margaret Tanner is a Best Selling and Award Winning Australian author of drama-laden historical western romance.
Florence Weinberg
Guardian AngelMaraglindi by Dr. Bob Rich pulls no punches. Set in the era of Queen Victoria, its major themes are two: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and, all human beings deserve equal respect and treatment regardless of sex, color of skin, age, wealth, or place of origin.
A highly superior being from elsewhere in the universe is assigned the task of leading human beings to the ideal state of perfect love. This being becomes Maraglindi. As she grows, she demonstrates to all who come in contact with her just what love and the Golden Rule can do. There is, however, one barrier to her ability to spread love, peace and understanding: the negative force of hatred and prejudice. There is much violence and bloodshed in this novel, but also much hope and goodness. Dr. Bob Rich's powerful work, while set in the past, is deeply relevant today, as we witness hatred and prejudice spread by persons in powerful places, through the power of modern media. We need you, Maraglindi! Come, Guardian Spirit!
Mike M –
Maraglindi is the name of a half-caste aboriginal girl whose life we follow from just before her birth.
The format of Bob Rich’s novel, which is set in 1850s Australia, is intriguing. The story progresses from several alternating points of view, but only Maraglindi’s perspective is told in the first person. And so the reader gets the sense that they are reading Maraglindi’s personal and intimate journal entries.
This approach gives an immediacy to her experiences: of being misunderstood and mistreated, of receiving love and giving love, and of curiosity and naïve behaviours. I challenge any reader not to fall in love with Maraglindi, to admire her tenacity, to smile at her youthful curiosity, to wince at the cruel treatment she receives, but mainly to marvel at her willingness to give love unconditionally.
The book is meticulously researched and gives us a fascinating insight into life in colonial Australia, and more importantly provides a much underrepresented Aboriginal perspective on life at the time – one that the author has sought respectful consultation with local indigenous leaders.
In the last third of the book, the main protagonist switches to the young deacon Gerald Kline, who as a child participated in a horrible crime against Maraglindi’s family. The remorse from this experience shapes Gerald into an upstanding and progressive member of society. Indeed, in some of the exchanges in Part Three, we see Gerald provide wise counsel to various members of the community.
For those who have browsed the author’s website, read his recent non-fiction books or his thinly disguised autobiography Ascending Spiral, you can recognise a lot of Bob Rich in Gerald Kline.
Although Gerald’s interactions are couched in conventional Christian terms, he draws the parallels with Aboriginal beliefs, and the author himself draws comparisons with other philosophies and religions in the postscript.
For readers interested in life in colonial Australia and the plight of the Aboriginal people, with moral tales and a touch of the supernatural thrown in, then Maraglindi: Guardian Spirit is a must read.
Kevin Amos –
This book is set in the mid 1800’s and centres around a young aboriginal girl who has a particular gift. I must admit that this is not the sort of book that I would normally read but as is so often the case when you step out of your normal habits pleasant surprises take place. Once I had got into the first chapter I was hooked and this is one of those books that you just want to keep reading to know what happens next. I don’t want to reveal too much of the story but will say that it has some surprising twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting and I think it’s this that keeps you wanting to move on through the book just to know the outcome.
I found that I became attached to the main character and felt for her on occasions, a sign of a good author.
Kevin