Carmel Magazine

Stilwater : Finding Wild Mercy in the Outback Memoir by Rafael de Grenade At age 24, Rafael de Grenade is dropped off at a remote corner of northern Australia to spend a dry sea- son mustering cattle. Incessant mosqui- tos are the least of the critter worries; there are poisonous snakes and croco- diles. But this is no prison sentence; de Grenade is here by choice, searching for someplace wilder and more remote than she has known before. The work itself leaves many injured— thrown up against fences, pressed there by feral bulls—sliced, mangled or busted fingers, ankles, feet and hands are com- monplace. "I helped with the smashing and snar- ing and tumbling and tying of those mas- sive animals, until I lost count in the mad- ness… my heart throbbing…as I wrapped my hands around the leather straps and pulled the legs of the bulls to be tied…close enough to get covered in their snot, to feel the daggers of their eyes and dodge their huge horns." What impresses me most is de Grenade's encyclopedic knowledge of the Australian Outback, alongside her poetic descriptions. "In the stillness, beans dangled from the aca- cia trees, crows perched in the branches, and as night plummeted, mango leaves turned pale maroon on the branch tips. A blue-winged kookaburra ate a snake in silhouette against the sundown. Flocks of bright green budgeri- gars etched the teal sky, the little parrots sweeping through the gum trees long-leaved and faintly blue." "Stilwater" pushes the boundaries of mem- oir, focusing more on place than person. It's a beautiful piece of repor tage—immersion jour- nalism at its best. Ironically, it is how little de Grenade shares about herself that tells us the most about her. "On Stilwater, I did not have enough energy to love all that needed love; I could only give what compassion I could summon and observe the rest. I was…quick to exclaim at beauty—wedge-tailed eagles flying, a low sun on bronze grass. But brutality was never far behind…In this expanse, the gift of compassion dissolved in a flood of need." This contemplation of compassion and its place in the outback reflects this narrator's priorities. She knows that place was and always will be first. That place has its way with us and we humans should honor that for the infinitesimal time we are here. The Ordinary Truth Novel by Jana Richman Fences feature prominently in all three of these books, but the cover art of "The Ordinary Truth" puts barbed wire front and center, both close up and intention- ally blurr y. It's smar t, ar tful and evocative; by blurring the scene in the far distance, we see only smudges and heights, dust and lights, impli- cations of a terracot- ta landscape. By keeping it suggestive rather than specific, the landscape can represent any era. Similarly, the soft edges to the young female's face allow her to stand as any of the female characters—Cassie, the young 84 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 4 IN REVIEW B Y M E L A N I E B I S H O P Women Explore their Nature in the Raw Outdoors

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