HOLLYWOOD AMARROO
by Nicholas Fourikis



The Blurb

When two young lovers ignore the prejudices of the day to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter, they blaze a trail to reconciliation.

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In September 1968 the police arrested Rosalie after the death of her baby in Hollywood, a reserve bordering Amarroo. While the charge of manslaughter was based on criminal neglect, there were suspicious circumstances - the baby had bruises all over her body.

Peter Russell an idealistic, out- of- town lawyer decides to defend Rosalie while his lover Allison Gray discovers Dr Parker, who disagrees with the claims of the Amarroo doctor. Peter, Ally and Dr Parker stand by Rosalie knowing the deep-seated prejudices of the Amarroo folk and the plight of Rosalie’s lot who live in lamentable poverty.

The endorsement by Professor Peter Read of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies

“You think outback Australia is racist? Try this novel of a Queensland outback town set in the 70s. A rich and complex novel of deep north racism as violent as Palm Island today, with a historical consciousness worthy of Judith Wright or Thea Astley.”

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Dr Nicholas Fourikis
Hollywood, Amarroo, is the author’s first novel after a distinguished career in Science. The book is founded on his conviction that our compassion should not be confined to relatives and friends. If one suffers, we all suffer; if one is killed we mourn because our humanity is diminished. His book is timely because today more than ever we need to extend our compassion to those we don’t know: the Aborigines, the refugees, the famished and the downtrodden.