The Shiralee is an Australian classic; the story of a swagman who comes to have his daughter in tow as he roams the continent working transient jobs and living out of a bag. The four year old is the shiralee, an Australian word for “burden”. What transpires between this man and his daughter is as sweet a transformation as I have ever encountered. He is all toughness, and she has inherited her share of it from him, but even a tough nut can be cracked and the love of a child is often the perfect nutcracker.

I loved the very Ausieness of this book. The expressions that are so quaint and foreign to me would no doubt be common fare for an Australian, but they gave it a regional flavor that hooked me immediately. It was difficult to think of this innocent child being dragged through what is so often a brutal and unkind environment, one in which other people are often the worst dangers you encounter, but there was also the camaraderie between the swagmen and the generosity of some of the strangers that proved this world is like any other, both good and bad, both cruel and kind.

Buster is such a resilient little bugger, and Macauley, who does not begin this journey in a very good light, grows on the reader as he realizes what it is to be a father, to accept a responsibility and to truly love. Niland lays out a beautiful case for why self-interest should not always win.

I confess that I sought this book out because I have always remembered seeing a production based on it back in the 1980s. Hallmark? PBS? Just a mini-series? Don’t recall, just remembered that I had loved it, that it starred Bryan Brown, a favorite actor, and that I now retained only a very vague hint of what it was actually about. I’m glad that movie left its impression, because the book was a total joy to read. Now, I want to go find that production if I can and watch it again.

During a time when we are all limited to such a narrow world, it was a delight to read about someone who had the freedom of the road, who could make his own decisions , who could face adversity head-on and win. A trip to Australia was just what I needed.
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A book first published in July 1955, the month after I was born! Buster, a four year old girl snatched from a negligent mother by her father, starts life on the road with her dad, Macauley, a man she barely knows. Taking Buster to get even with his wife backfires a little and Macauley finds his feelings change as he gets to know his daughter who is now a little burden, his responsibility, his shiralee. Life on the road is not much suited for a little girl, and as a man with a quick temper he finds more than his fair share of trouble along the way. He's a big honest Aussie bloke who's prepared to work hard and long for a day's pay, but work is hard to find. He and Buster have to walk long miles, living on billy tea and meals cooked on an open fire down by the creek on the outskirts of small country towns. D'arcy Niland has given them some true blue characters to meet along the way, and although the language is a bit dated I imagine it's true to the year in which it was written. The final chapter holds an unexpected twist for both Buster and Macauley and for Macualey and his estranged wife, a twist that sets all their futures on a new path. ( )

It was curious to listen to this audio book straight after reading Penelope Lively’s analysis of social changes in A House Unlocked…because I might not otherwise have realised with such clarity how The Shiralee (1955) represents a view of fatherhood that had almost become obsolete before I was born.

It is the story of a swagman called Macauley during the Great Depression. He walks the outback looking for work but comes home to find his wife in bed with another man. To revenge himself, he takes their daughter, four year old Buster – not because he loves her nor to rescue her from ‘moral harm’ but because he wants to hurt his wife by taking what he thinks she loves.

Having taken this child for the most reprehensible of reasons, he is then saddled with her in his travels. He knows nothing about the needs of a four year old, and regards Buster as a burden. ‘Shiralee’ means ‘swag’ or burden, but since a swag also holds the basics of survival and is the source of life on the road, Shiralee is also a metaphor for the paradox represented by this little girl. Betrayed by his wife, Macauley’s emotional survival depends on Buster’s love, but she is also his burden. At times he is very hard on the little girl, and his spankings certainly jar a 21st century sensibility, but gradually this man with a tough exterior develops a love for his child that was not there before. (The fight scenes jar too, but in the context of the period, they are used to establish Macauley as a ‘man’s man’.)

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2009/05/16/the-shiralee-by-darcy-niland-read-by-ivor-ka... ( )

It may be unpatriotic of me, but I dont read much Australian literature, probably because having been force-fed Australian history at school (and now believing that a mere 200 years does not actually constitute "a history") turned me off for life. However I'll certainly slip in a good word for this unpretentious little charmer. It certainly wont excercise your thinking apparatus very hard, but it's sweet, funny and has two of the most engaging lead characters I've come across. Think of it as Australia's answer to "Of Mice and Men" (minus the sexual innuendo and violence) and you won't be far off. ( )

This book gives insight into Australia.

It is a real classic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Well worth reading and beautiful. Set in 1920s Australia. I think it is suitable for Year 12 and 13, maybe year 11 as well. Great for wide reading and 'theme studies' . ( )