About the book
My River Sanctuary is about Kim Chen who has grown up on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. She is a descendant of one of the first Chinese immigrants to the state during the gold rush of the 1880s. Kim continues her father’s legacy of growing Chinese vegetables on the river.
She has a son, Ayden, born to her first love, Jack, the boy next door who has left her to become an army photographer in Afghanistan. Kim struggles to keep her farm profitable in Perth even in the midst of a mining boom.
She enlists the help of Ara, an Afghan refugee awaiting release into the community. Kim’s dream is to develop a world garden, a garden that encompasses plants from the countries of all the migrants who have settled in Perth, and create a self-sustaining business from the produce. She faces opposition from everyone in the community, and eventually must fight to save her identity, her son and her land.
The story flows like the Swan River through memory, loss and a family struggling against the tide.
‘An insightful book of gentle beauty capturing Perth’s unique isolation’ – The West Australian newspaper
Editorial reviews
Judge, 25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, 2017
Never judge a book by its cover, or so they say, but in this contest, where the cover designs often leave much to be desired, I must begin talking about Robin Bower’s MY RIVER SANCTUARY by saying how much I love the cover: great illustration, great font, great design, velvety to the touch. Very professionally done, and I can easily see this displayed face-out on bookstore shelves. Happily, the book’s content matches its cover in quality. (And it makes me want to go to Australia immediately.) Bower is Australian, and the book is filled with a level of authenticity and verisimilitude that I think can only be obtained by firsthand experience. In Kim, Bower creates a compelling and fascinating protagonist. I’m particularly interested in this subject matter, as I’ve always found Australia and New Zealand to be fascinating melting pots due to the clash of native peoples with the European settlers, and I’d never read anything about the Chinese prospectors who came to that country, so I found myself learning a great deal from the novel as well. Bower is to be applauded for having written such a thought-provoking and compelling story, and for also presenting her work in such a professional manner. This is a book that I would very much enjoy reading again.
Apex Reviews
Having grown up on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, Kim’s Chinese roots extend all the way back to the nation’s first prospectors. Suddenly in the midst of a mining boom, Kim draws on her ancestral lineage in her efforts to rebuild her father’s urban farm; however, when she partners with Ara, an Afghan refugee, to do so, she faces considerable backlash from the community. Will Kim and her family survive the swelling tide of cultural and political backlash?
Timely, hard-hitting, and skillfully crafted, My River Sanctuary is an enthralling read. In it, author Robin Bower masterfully combines vivid, realistic characters with a compelling story line to relate a poignant tale that may hit a little too close to home for many readers. Given the current political and cultural climate not only in America, but worldwide, My River Sanctuary delves deep into the strident xenophobic, jingoistic conversation being held in nations across globe. If the purpose of art & literature is to provoke and unsettle, then Robin Bower is the consummate disruptor – a much needed one for this day and age. A highly recommended read.
Amber Wright, Apex Reviews
This is Writing
Robin Bower’s My River Sanctuary is a story about family and intermingling cultures set in the lush backdrop of Perth, Australia. The book touches on many themes that I love reading about such as cultural identity, racism, refugees, mental illness, family dynamics, and war.
WritingWA
Set by the Swan River in South Perth, My River Sanctuary weaves a heart-warming story around two women. Kim, a Chinese-Australian woman, is yearning for connection with her teenage son and with her own heritage. She enlists the help of Ara, a newly arrived asylum seeker from Afghanistan to re-build her father’s market garden into a modern-day urban farm. The garden’s smells, textures and bounty fill Kim and Ara with memories and connection beyond their own imaginings. Told across a thirty-year time span, My River Sanctuary is a big story of love, rejection, prejudice and identity, and throughout, that big old river, constant as ever, rolls on.
The West Australian newspaper
My River Sanctuary is a beautifully crafted novel with a Perth setting. The story flows with the Swan River, a symbol of strength bonding the lives of its characters. Kim, a university professor and fourth-generation Chinese and her son Ayden, live close to it, Ayden’s absent father, Jack, is deployed in Afghanistan. Ara, an Afghan refugee who had been brought up as a boy by her parents, is enlisted by Kim to help transform her neglected family farm. Relationships, diverse cultures, refugees and xenophobia are sensitively intertwined to make an insightful book of gentle beauty capturing Perth’s unique isolation.
Elaine Fry, The West Australian newspaper
