Odette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. After her daughter disappeared and left her with her granddaughter Sissy to raise on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. When a new policeman arrives in town, determined to enforce the law, Odette must risk everything to save Sissy and protect everything she loves.
In The White Girl, Miles-Franklin-shortlisted author Tony Birch shines a spotlight on the 1960s and the devastating government policy of taking Indigenous children from their families.
Won, 2020 NSW Premier's Literary Awards – Indigenous Writers' Prize
Shortlisted, The Miles Franklin Literary Award
Shortlisted, 2020 NSW Premier's Literary Awards – Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted, Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) – Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year
Longlisted, 2020 Indie Awards — Fiction
Longlisted, 2020 Australian Book Design Awards 2020 (ABDAs) - Best Designed Literary Fiction Cover
Island Story Gatherers interview between Tony Birch and Chris Flynn [video]
Author talk: Tony Birch on The White Girl with Goldfields Libraries
The Garret: Writers on Writing, Tony Birch on 'The White Girl'
The White Girl on Speaking Out with Larissa Behrendt
The Age: Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist announced
Sydney Review of Books, The Hidden Children: The White Girl by Tony Birch
The Guardian, Tony Birch on The White Girl: ‘No Aboriginal person I know is intact’
Knowledge Melbourne, Lunchtime Talks: Tony Birch
The Wheeler Centre, Double Booked Club: Tony Birch and Tara June Winch