The Crocodile Hotel

Julie Janson THE CROCODILE HOTEL A heartfelt, epic story of a young single mother’s adventures in a remote Northern Territory community in 1976. This land holds a terrible secret of a massacre of immense proportions, the earth is red with the memory. Jane Reynolds is swept up in two years of wonders, as she negotiates her place between the black and white societies. She finds love with two charismatic men and meets traditional Aboriginal elders who change her life forever. Jane fights alongside the Lanniwah for land rights and finds respect and redemption for herself. Jane takes a journey to recognise her identity and is drawn into the world of race relations in the face of 1970s prejudice and discrimination. She is a teacher from Sydney, and she begins a position on the remote cattle property, Harrison Station, south of Arnhem Land.. There are confrontations with the racist cattle station boss, Hubert Barkley and his wife Edie, but Jane is entangled in their lives. The caravan school has fifty two traditional Aboriginal children and no one can read or write. Another teacher arrives and Jane is swept up in a love affair with the charismatic Orlando. The relationship crashes as sex and jealousy and other women impact on their love. As time passes Jane is drawn to the handsome David Yaniwuy, a young Aboriginal Teaching Assistant. Jane is sexual, courageous and passionate and she is swept up in a tempestuous story of the Northern Territory that reveals the bloody history of the country and the Lanniwah people’s spiritual magic realism in their cultural landscape. This story may challenge the way you think about Australia’s history.

THE CROCODILE HOTEL by critically acclaimed playwright, Julie Janson, has written a debut novel: This story strikes deep into Australia’s heart. An epic novel about a young Aboriginal single mother’s awakening of identity and compassion in a remote Northern Territory community in 1976. This land holds a terrible secret of immense proportions, the earth is red with the memory. Jane Reynolds is swept up in a year of wonders, as she negotiates her place between the black and white societies. She begins teaching in the caravan school on the remote cattle property, Harrison Station, south of Arnhem Land. Jane arrives with her five-year-old son Aaron. She meets traditional Aboriginal elders who change her life forever. She finds love with two charismatic men and fights for Land Rights alongside the Lanniwah, while finding respect and redemption for herself. The great grand-daughter of a Darug Hawkesbury river Aboriginal woman, Jane takes a journey to recognise her identity and is drawn into the world of race relations in the face of 1970s prejudice and discrimination. There is grim humour, powerful understatement and memorable characters. Jane is courageous and passionate as she is swept up in a tempestuous story of the Northern Territory that reveals the bloody history of the country and the Lanniwah people’s spiritual magic realism. This recreation may challenge the way you think about Australia’s history. “A story that needs to be told: a riveting account of a young Aboriginal woman from Western Sydney asserting her own identity in a remote Northern Territory community in the teeth of entrenched racism at the beginning of land rights." Linda Burney

Julie Janson is a novelist, artist and playwright. A graduate of Sydney College of the Arts and UNSW. She is a descendant of the Burruberongal people of the Darug Aboriginal nation, Hawkesbury River, Sydney. She has received numerous grants and fellowships including the Developing Writer’s Fellowship, Australia Council; Asialink Literature Residencies in Indonesia. Writer in residence at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland. She is a recipient of the B R Whiting Studio Rome residence, Australia Council. Some of her ten produced plays: GUNJIES; BLACK MARY; LOTUS WAR; SEASON TO TASTE were produced at Belvoir St Theatre Sydney. BLACK MARY was a Company B Belvoir St Theatre production with SOCOG Festival of the Dreaming. She has been short listed for the Patrick White Award and the Griffin Award. BLACK MARY & GUNJIES have been published by Aboriginal Studies Press. Julie is a Senior Researcher on www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au. This website received a NSW Heritage Award. Julie’s debut novel: THE CROCODILE HOTEL was published by Cyclops Press in April 2015.