Whilst a story about a pioneering New South Wales family and the hardships they face in the 1800s should be interesting, one wouldn’t necessarily expect it to be compelling. Yet I couldn’t put this book down.
The story is told through the eyes of the eldest daughter Charlotte, as she grows up under the shadow of her stepfather, a violent drunkard (her own father having died a few years previously). A central focus of the story is Charlotte’s quest to find out why her mother would marry such a man, and as a result, lead her family into danger and despair. We can only know what Charlotte knows, so as there are gaps in her ability to comprehend her situation, we are in the dark too. As the story unfolds and Charlotte progresses into adulthood, we come to understand more of why her mother may have done the things she did.
The book is based on a real family, the Atkinsons, who lived at Oldbury, NSW, Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment