Mary Grant BruceBesprekingen

A key text in Aussie children's literature, published when my great-grandparents were still young, this book was read and re-read by children for 60 years, although I don't think many people my age would be familiar with it. Another fantastic female heroine, and gripping use of the landscape. By this point, colonialist Australia had developed its own personality, and that ever-changing relationship with the land is at the heart of this work.

Is it outdated? Absolutely. It might be a questionable choice for one's children because of its racial stereotypes and language. A product of its time but, on balance, an invigorating historical novel. Just maybe leave it until people are old enough to question the parts that should be questioned.

Christmas in Australia is so very different from the traditions in the USA. I can appreciate that since Christmas in south and central Texas rarely feels like the traditional Christmas. At Christmas-time, Australia is blazes hot with risk of fire, snakes, and the odd kangaroo ever present. So much work this time of year at the stations. Stories are set mostly in the early 20th century. Some are sad, poignant, and funny. Many involve someone in distress and true love is found when someone saves them, such as a former WWII POW unable to recover from his experiences. One story ends in tragedy so read before sharing with young ones. Only one involves Christmas magic. Most feel like Little House on the Prairie type stories with the Australian Christmas background. I enjoyed it for something very different this year.½

Re-reading From Billabong to London, I am struck afresh by the interesting structure and build of the books in this series. Episodic in nature, and with only a loosely hanging overarcing plotline, the books tend to be very... anecdotal. Nearly always beginning (obviously aside from the volumes set overseas) with a gentle depiction of life at Billabong station, followed by a few chapters concerning specific events in station life, such as a servants' ball, a muster of stock etc., the books usually have some excitement/danger/suspense just before the halfway mark. Examples include snake-bite, attempted horsetheft, housefire, and so on. After the excitement at this point, which is often spread out over a few diverse episodes, the book usually settles down again for a little while - before the extremely dramatic events of the finale - none of which will I spoil for you!
From Billabong to London has many gripping moments - which I believe make up for some duller passages. (The book is set on board an ocean liner - there are bound to be fewer exciting moments, WWI notwithstanding.) Two people whom I have tried to interest in the series both tossed in the towel about halfway through this book. A real shame, for the last few chapters are quite exciting!

This book brought so many important things to my attention regarding the challenges that widows face. I think this is an important book for everyone to read and should be in every church library.

I was given a copy of this book for free. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.

Comprises two pieces of Juvenilia written by Bruce in 1898 and 1900. Both are set in the bush, and explore Australian themes of the time, such as the isolation of the bush, the hardiness of the people, and the dangers faced. For my full review, please see Whispering Gums: http://whisperinggums.com/2014/05/19/mary-grant-bruce-the-early-tales-review/

I'd never heard of Mary Grant Bruce or the Billabong series until one day my grandmother started talking about the books she read as a child, some 70 years ago now. For all I knew she was making it all up because I had never heard or seen of it anywhere...until I stumbled across the first book A Little Bush Maid in a secondhand bookstore. I bought it immediately, and sat down to see what the fuss was about.

Of course, I loved it. How could I not? It's Australia, it's the bush, it's history (though fiction I believe this portrays an accurate picture of rural Australia at the time), it's a plucky little heroine who you can't help but love and a whole other cast of characters. I can see why my grandmother loved this as a child and I only wish I, too, had discovered them at a younger age (being now about 10 years above the target age).

Many who read these books today may be shocked by some of the terms and behaviour used by even the children toward the Aboriginal stable boy. I think it is important to realise, while we should in no way encourage this behaviour, we also shouldn't try to cover up that part of history. That was the way life was in the 1900s and is clearly very different to life in 2010s. Just to put my two cents in, I see no reason to politically correct any novels, including the Billabong series and also Enid Blyton books, which I believe have been 'edited'. I think that adults shouldn't be so shocked that those attitudes did once exist, and I also think that children who read the books should have an understanding of how life used to be different and why it's not like that anymore.

But I digress! This book is wonderful and I look forward to scrounging around a few more secondhand bookstores to get my paws on the rest!

This is one of the better books in the series. The Lintons and friends continue to work Bob's gold mine meeting opposition in the form of McGill, a former boxer who is looking to get rich quickly. Events in this book lead directly into Son Of Billabong where McGill's wife attempts to get revenge on the Lintons after her husband ends up in prison.