Jennifer Gall

NLA Publishing produce gorgeous books, and this one is no exception. Looking for Rose Paterson is a beautiful, lavishly illustrated exploration of the life of the mother of our best-loved bush poet, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson, famous for Waltzing Matilda, but also for rollicking ballads like The Man from Snowy River; Clancy of the Overflow; The Geebung Polo Club and The Man from Ironbark.

Although Gall had little more to go on than the one-sided correspondence of Rose Paterson to her sister Nora, she has amplified this lively and illuminating correspondence by making use of the resources of the National Library to depict representative lifestyles of the period, especially the lives of women.

So while the book shows the influence of a rural childhood on Banjo and his eventual writing career, it’s also very revealing about the responsibilities and hardships of a particular class of 19th century women. Rose Isabella Paterson née Barton came from a privileged background, and did not expect that her marriage to Andrew Bogle Paterson in 1863 would be as difficult as it turned out to be.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/05/27/looking-for-rose-paterson-how-family-life-nu...… (meer)