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Saltwater
by Cathy McLennan

Everyone knows that some of those kids are innocent … your dilemma is not whether the kids are innocent, but which of the kids are innocent.

A$32.95

(Paperback)

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Overview

When Cathy McLennan first steps into Townsville’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service as a young graduate she isn’t expecting a major murder case to land on her desk. The accused are four teenage boys whose family connections stretch across the water to Palm Island. As she battles to prove herself in the courtroom, Cathy realises that the truth is far more complex than she first thought. She starts to question who are the criminals and who are the victims. Saltwater tells the compelling story of one lawyer’s fight for justice amongst the beauty and the violence of this tropical paradise.

Details

Awards

Reviews

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Rule of Law Education

‘Saltwater is a provoking account of the rule of law in action – or rather, missing in action – in some of Australia’s most marginalised communities.’

The Saturday Paper

‘Saltwater is a vital reminder of the oft-ignored netherworld within our borders, where logic and reason have ceded territory to cruelty, apathy and community devastation.’

Queensland Reviewers Collective

‘It’s to be hoped that this absorbing memoir can contribute to creating solutions.’

Cathy McLennan

Cathy McLennan is the winner of the 2014 Queensland Literary Award for Best Emerging Author and has written for TheCourier-Mail and the Townsville Bulletin. She has more than twenty years’ experience in criminal law, from her early days working as a barrister for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service in North Queensland, to appearing in the High Court and deciding cases as a Queensland Magistrate. She has a Masters of Law and was the recipient of the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Alumnus of James Cook University. Cathy is well known for her dedication to vulnerable Queenslanders. She lives with her husband and their two children.