Daughter of the
Published July 2021
In country NSW in the 1940s, a baby is born and is immediately taken from her Aboriginal mother. Raised in the era of the White Australia policy, that child, Dianne, grows up believing her adoptive Irish mother is her birth mother.
But when that mother dies, her father installs a mate in the backyard who rapes her when she’s just 15, then abandons her and life spirals completely out of control.
As a kid who’s completely alone, Dianne is sent to the notorious Parramatta Girls’ Home and then forced to marry her rapist in order to keep her baby. She goes on to endure horrific domestic violence at the hands of different partners, alcohol addiction and cruel betrayal by those closest to her. But amazingly her fighting spirit is not extinguished.
At the age of 36, while raising six kids on her own, Dianne O’Brien learns she is Aboriginal and that her great-grandfather was William Cooper, a famous Aboriginal activist. Miraculously she finds a way to forgive her traumatic past and becomes a leader in her own right, vowing to help other stolen people just like her.
“It’s an incredible story of strength, resilience and, ultimately, inspiration,” says Sue. “It felt like a huge privilege being chosen to tell Dianne’s story and I found myself awestruck at her courage and humour and ability to survive life’s blows that would have killed most people.”
Daughter of the River Country by Dianne O’Brien with Sue Williams was published by Echo Publishing in July 2021 as a print book, e-book and audio book
Reviews
“This book isn’t always an easy one to read, but it is certainly worthwhile. Dianne O’Brien’s memoir takes us through death, abuse, imprisonment and trauma of many different kinds. As a member of the Stolen Generations, adopted by a loving mother who dies too young and an abusive father, O’Brien ends up in the notorious Parramatta Girls Home—15 years old, pregnant, alone and ultimately forced to marry her rapist in order to keep her baby. Unfortunately, that’s only the beginning of it, but O’Brien displays an extraordinary amount of resilience as she moves from one heartbreaking experience to the next. Although much of what happens in this book is confronting and harrowing, O’Brien tells her story so frankly and in such an open-hearted way that Daughter of the River Country remains compelling until the end”
Books Publishing
“A heartbreaking, redemptive memoir of raw power, Daughter of the River Country is the story of an extraordinary journey from a childhood as one of Australia’s Stolen Generation to Aboriginal Elder. It explores for the first time the devastation caused to Australia’s Aboriginal Stolen Generation, who were forcibly placed with white families as part of a government assimilation programme. A compelling memoir about the power of love and staying the course.”
Linda Burney
The first Aboriginal Member of Australia’s House of Representatives
“Daughter of the River Country is an important book. That cannot be exaggerated. People need to come to some understanding of the courage, resilience, (apologies for this much overused word) and near insurmountable difficulties she and others faced.
Injustice and ignorance brought cruel and horrific circumstances, and our First Australians have endured all this. Despite this, they aim to reach out, contribute and share knowledge and thus improve life for us all. For this reason, this painfully confronting story of a brave child of the river country must be read by everyone who cares to have a just and fairer Australia.”
Queensland Reviewers Collective
“This is an amazing story of determinism courage resilience. I was shocked, saddened, angry reading it, but it was so worth it to get to the end and hear of all she achieved despite everything.”
