AUSTRALIANA

JUDY G:  "EUCALYPTUS" BY MURRAY BAIL

Judy found the book a bit boring at first but later found some humorous events.  It is the story of a wealthy Australian landowner whose wife dies in childbirth.  She had twins. The baby boy dies and the girl lives.  When his daughter is 19 he decides that the person who can marry her has to meet certain criteria. In the meantime his daughter meets a man floating around the property.  He tells her stories.  After page 50, Judy wanted to know what happened and in the end, enjoyed it.

WENDY  "MR STUART'S TRACK" BY JOHN BAILEY

This book is an account of the life of  John McDouall Stuart who was descended from the Royal Line of Stuarts.  He migrated to South Australia at 23.  He was a surveyor who did seven expeditions, including one with Sturt.  He got a backer to do an expedition to reach the centre of Australia, south to north.  Wendy felt sorry for the explorers, aborigines and the horses.  Wendy said it was an easy book to read and would recommend it.

PAMELA  "WILD MEN OF SYDNEY" BY CYRIL PEARL

This is non fiction.  Pamela had read it before and thought she would like it but she didn't like the fact the author does not back up what he writes.  There is no referencing.  Because of a serious error in the book she doubts the veracity of some of the book.  It is the story of some of the men in the New South Wales parliament in the early 1900's. Two of  these men were John Norton, editor of the "Truth" and Patrick Crick.  It is a story of corruption, the terrible brawls and the bad behaviour in parliament. The speaker's Mace went missing in a brothel! After a while their bad behaviour starts to pall.

SHEILA  "DEAR COUSIN:THE REIBY LETTERS"

This book is an account of Mary Reiby's life through letters written by Mary to her family.  Mary Reiby was born in 1777.  She was brought up by her grandmother after her parents died.  She was schooled which was unusual.  Mary was difficult to handle.  When she was fourteen she dressed as a boy and stole a horse.  She was tried and the verdict was death by hanging.  It was commuted to seven years in Australia.  She married a free settler at 16 and had seven children.  Sheila said she was a fascinating, heroic woman who prospered in Australia. She was a very clever woman and was the founding member of the Bank of N.S.W.

ROSEMARIE  "TIN TICKET" BY DEBORAH J SWISS

The author, was hiking in Tasmania in 2004 when an artist she met, a descendant from convict women, told her she had a story for her.  The American author spent six years researching 19th century diaries.The story is about two convict women from Glasgow who are sent to Newgate prison in London for a trivial incident of stealing one spoon.  They are transported to Van Diemens land. She describes the horrors on board the ship taking them to Van Diemens land.  Rosemarie is enjoying it and likes the author's ability to tell facts in a readable story.  She also quotes from the diaries but keeps the flow of the book. The tin ticket is their identity no.

PAT  "100 STORIES BY 100 WOMEN"

This is not a book about Australia as Pat was in Malta, where she borrowed this particular book from the library.  She enjoyed reading it.  The women in the book are between 77 and 100 and it is about their lives in Malta during the 2nd World War. They had hordes of children, one woman had twenty two. Their husbands died young, they had no food coming into the country so they were hungry and poor.  Malta was the most bombed island during the war.  Pat particularly liked the stories as they were so similar to stories she heard from her mother.

ANNE "THE LIEUTENANT" BY KATE GRENVILLE

The book is based on the life of William Dawes but Anne says it is fictional.  He was an astronomer who came out from England in the hope of sighting Haley's comet. The young Aboriginals visited him and he tried to learn the language.  The Governor ordered him to capture or kill six Aboriginals.  Dawes was sent back as he didn't approve.  Anne found it a bit boring and didn't enjoy it as she is not interested in astronomy.

LAURA  "THE HARP IN THE SOUTH" BY RUTH PARK

The book is set in an inner city suburb of Sydney and it is written and set in the 1940's.  It is about a poor family of  Irish immigrants, the parents and their two daughters.  The father drinks away any money.  They have boarders in various rooms as well as bedbugs!  There are moments of joy and they seem to be quite happy with very little.  It is a story of ordinary lives.  Laura really enjoyed it, found it very readable and would recommend this book.

CONNIE "SCAPEGALLOWS" BY CAROL BIRCH

This is a novel about the people who escaped the gallows and whose punishment was commuted to transportation.  Connie enjoyed the book but would have preferred more about the time in Australia.  It didn't get to Australia until the end.  It is a story about Margaret Catchpole who was born in 1792 to an unmarried mother.  She is given to the 16yr old sister to look after. The book is based on what might have happened.  Mary became a competent horsewoman.  She taught herself to read and write, never married and acted as a midwife (not trained). She was sentenced to death twice and the second time it was changed to life imprisonment in Australia.  She was well known by the time she got to Australia.  She moved to the Hawkesbury later.  There is a ward in Hawkesbury Hospital named after Mary.

JULIA  "MARY BRYANT, HER LIFE AND ESCAPE FROM BOTANY BAY" BY JONATHON KING

The author has written twenty books, a lot about the convict era and television dramas about early Australia.  It is called an historical biography.  Mary robbed a wealthy woman of a silk bonnet and was given a death sentence but instead was transported to Botany Bay.  She escaped by boat and ended up at Timor.  Julia said it was a good read!

LESLEY  "STORM BAY" BY PATRICIA SHAW

This book is historical fiction.  It is the story of a ship full of convicts who were sent to Port Arthur in Van Diemens land.  It describes the terrible cruelty inflicted on each other and by their superiors, although some of the soldiers try to improve the situation. The author repeats herself in yet another brutal situation and Lesley felt the book could have been 200 pages less.   The main character is a fairly decent man who eventually gets a ticket of leave.  The story follows the hardships he endures.  Lesley said the book was alright.

JO  "THE SECRET RIVER" BY KATE GRENFELL

The story is about a riverboat man who was caught stealing.  He was sentenced to death by hanging but this was commuted and he was sent to the colonies. He starts up as a river man again and then comes to the Hawkesbury.  He gets 100 acres and learns how to be a farmer.  He has problems with the Aborigines.  Jo said it was a fantastic book and very well written.

TAM "STRENGTH TO STRENGTH" BY SARA HENDERSON

Tam read this book after reading Sara Henderson's daughter's book.  She wanted to get the other side of the story. It is autobiographical. Tam had no trouble reading it. Tam said Sara is a very good writer as well a being a clever and tough woman.  She runs a cattle station with two daughters.  Her American husband who is an ace pilot dumps her in a tin shed in the Northern Territory and expects her to do everything.  She hangs in and hangs in due to her iron will.  She is obsessed with the property.  There are some amazing stories and Tam wonders if it was a bit exaggerated.

ROSEMARIE O  "REMEMBERING BABYLON" BY DAVID MALOUF

Rosemarie read half of the book but said it was a bit boring and not a lot of story.  There was a lot of psychoanalysing.  It is about a group of Scottish immigrants who come to North Queensland.  They all come for different reasons and it spends a lot of time telling you the reasons.  Into the story comes a white boy who was brought up by the Aboriginals.  He is not well received by the the Scottish people.  She will finish it but felt there was no real story content.

KRIS "ISOBEL ON THE WAY TO THE CORNER SHOP" BY AMY WITTING

This book is set in the 20th century.  The story is about Isobel, a 21yr old woman who is working in a job translating German into English.  Too much is expected of her and she walks out one day after losing her temper. Isobel has grown up with little love in her life. Her dream is to write a novel.  She lives in an attic room of a boarding house and with no job and no food, she soon becomes sick. She wonders "how in this world full of people, did one get to be quite alone?  She had been working at it for some time, it seemed, shutting doors behind her, one after another".  She drags herself out to get some food but collapses in the street.  She is put into a sanatorium when it is discovered she has tuberculosis. The rest of the book is about the different people she shares her life with in the sanatorium.  Isobel has quite a sense of humour making the situation less grim.  The book is well written and worth a read.