Set in the 1890s, in the High Country of Victoria, this is a feminist and Indigenous retelling of Henry Lawson’s 1892 short story by Leah Purcell, a Goa, Gunggari, Wakka Wakka woman. It has a gothic western style, with drama, violence and tragedy.

The story began as a prize-winning play, including the NSW Premier's Award for Playwriting and Book of the Year in 2017; and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Drama and the Victorian Prize for Literature.

Purcell gives the drover’s wife a name, Molly Johnson, and a backstory. Molly ekes out a rugged existence providing for herself and her children while her drunk and violent husband is away droving for much of the year. Her meeting with Yadaka, a Guugu Yimithirr man, changes much for Molly, as their relationship evolves through storytelling.

The story also involves English couple Louisa and Nate Clintoff. Louisa is an idealistic suffragette eager to see change for Australian women, and Nate is a war-wounded soldier tasked with bringing law to Everton in the Snowy Mountains.

The third story involves a Ngambri Walgalu woman called 'Black Mary' or Waraganj, “the whitest gin in all the land” of Lawson’s tale, and her interaction with wealthy settlers the Edwards. The three stories eventually intersect but unfortunately the murder mystery is never really solved.

The point of view shifts rapidly from third to first person, but I didn’t mind this. There were a few anachronisms but overall I enjoyed this book. It was a powerful story, with some sad and ugly moments. I’m keen to see the movie now. ( )

That feeling when you finish a book and realise you've just suffered an emotional mugging! Leah Purcell has created the most beautiful story, gut-wrenching yet hopeful. Can't wait to see the film. ( )

2.75 stars. i really like the indigenous feminist point of view in this, and the acknowledgement of how important it is to take these stories and give that perspective. i really appreciate the way she did that here, and the story she told.

i was most engaged in the beginning and through the end of this. large parts of the middle were full of exposition and the book would have been stronger had this been done differently. i also didn't like the way the narration paused to dip into the thoughts of people for brief periods of time. this might, though, be an issue in the audio that isn't present in the book, as it might be obvious on the page what's happening, whereas it felt abrupt and disjointed in the audio.

still, by the ending of this i was really caught up in it and was hoping for anything but what we knew had to happen. i appreciated the optimistic epilogue, for sure. ( )

A few years back, indigenous playwright Leah Purcell wrote an award-winning play based on the classic Henry Lawson story about the drover's wife, left alone to scrabble out a hard living in the bush with her children.

Purcell brings two points-of-view to this story that Lawson did not: that of the local indigenous people violently displaced by the mountain cattlemen, and that of the burgeoning feminist movement. Purcell's Molly is a much tougher, resilient and assertive character than the put-upon, isolated character that Lawson wrote of with his sympathetic eye.

Purcell's plot expands on the short story really well, sowing a few seeds early on to set up a startling and action-packed last third. This reads like it would have been fantastic to see on stage.

BUT ...

This book is ruined by a whole series of brain-dead anachronisms that any half-way decent editor should have picked up on and fixed prior to publication. For example, uneducated bush dweller Molly worries about her hormones during pregnancy, ten years before science identified the first hormone, and decades before they ever became linked to health issues during pregnancy. Similarly, she has London feminist Louisa using terms like "bachelor pad" and "global economic depression". I'd be almost 100% certain that neither of those terms were in use in the 1890s. (According to the dictionary, the term "pad" for somewhere to live originated with the hippies in 1960).

This is not just pedantry (although there are also spelling errors that riled the pedant in me), because it seriously misleads the reader. I spent most of chapter two convinced that the Louisa story thread was set in the 1930s and that she was referring to the Great Depression. It was only after a different allusion that I worked out that all of this was happening in 1893. That's something that would not happen on stage, because you could see from the actors' costumes what the setting is.

Sadly, Purcell has ultimately failed to translate her successful drama into an equally successful novel due to either not being up to the task, or having editors who were not up to the job of keeping the manuscript on the rails. ( )

Once a week in our school library we holds a "Books I Love "book talk where one student and one staff member talks about a book they loved reading. An English teacher talked about "The Drover's Wife" last term and after her passionate recommendation, I knew I had to read it, and what a fabulous read it turned out to be!

Loosely based on Henry Lawson's short story, this novel highlighted the hardship women faced in colonial Australia, especially in the High Country. Having visited the area recently, it was easy to image the beauty of this harsh land and the challenges Molly and her children faced on a daily basis. The descriptions of the snow gums were especially beautiful.

Molly Johnson was definitely a strong, no-nonsense, courageous woman who loved her children with the fierceness of a lioness. The relationship between her and her four living children was a highlight of the novel, although I felt sorry for twelve-year-old Danny who was the 'man' of the family while his father was away droving. His young shoulders had to carry too many burdens for his tender age.

"The Drover's Wife" was not a pleasant read. There was violence, rape, poverty, prejudice and injustices, and the ending was heartbreaking. However, it was a quick read as the plot moved at a cracking pace and once I started the first chapter, I found it difficult to put down until I had reached the last page. A compelling read. ( )