Debesa

Reviewed by Chris Day

This is the story of Frank Rodriguez, a Spanish immigrant, and his Aboriginal wife, Katie, and their life together and development of an isolated sheep station in the West Kimberley, named Debesa, written by their daughter Cindy. Frank came to Australia in 1944 to become a Benedictine monk and met his future wife who was a novitiate in a convent for ‘black’ women at Beagle Bay. The book describes their survival through difficult times and love of family, place, and culture. The record is based on Frank’s diaries and Cindy’s mother’s memories. This is a unique and special history.