The Fish Girl is a compact historical novel that draws on the overlooked history of Dutch colonial Indonesia.

Set in the 1940s on a wealthy household's estate in Java, it follows Mina, a young island girl taken from her fishing village to work as a servant. As political tensions rise and the certainties of empire begin to fracture, Mina finds herself caught between desire, duty and the violent hierarchies that govern both race and class.

The novella remains close to Mina's interior life, revealing colonialism through the textures of domestic labour, language, gender and everyday power. The result is an elegant, quietly devastating work that has become one of the standout Australian historical novellas of recent years, perfect for readers of Michelle de Kretser, Yumna Kassab and Madeleine Thien.

Xoum Publishing paperback. Very good condition, with clean pages and only light shelf wear.