A Tear in the Soul

An honest and deeply personal story of how a privileged white woman deals with the realisationthat the children she grew up with were part of the Stolen Generation.

Born into privilege and wealth in 1959, Amanda Webster is a sixth-generation Australian descended from white settlers and a third-generation resident of Kalgoorlie. When she turned five Amanda startedschool at Kalgoorlie where she met and befriended Aboriginal children from the nearby KurrawangMission, established in 1952 – with the help of the Department of Native Affairs – by Brethrenmissionaries. At that time the affairs of Aboriginal people were controlled by the Chief Protector, noneother than Webster’s very own grandfather.

Forty years later, Webster returns to her hometown to reconnect with her former friends, and to piecetogether Kurrawang’s story. Webster confronts her racist blunders, her cultural ignorance and her family’ssecret past, beginning a journey of reconciliation that will take her well outside her comfort zone and into a world she hardly knew existed.

A Tear in the Soul is a frank, beautifully written account of Webster’s personal journey towards the realisation that she, like generations of Australians, grew up with a distorted and idealised version of the past. This book, shattering many of the myths about modern Australia’s history, will shock, move and anger yet give a sense of hope for the future.