The Drover's Wife

The Drover's Wife
Author: Leah Purcell
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2019-12-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1760144266

Deep in the heart of Australia’s high country, along an ancient, hidden track, lives Molly Johnson and her four surviving children, another on the way. Husband Joe is away months at a time droving livestock up north, leaving his family in the bush to fend for itself. Molly’s children are her world, and life is hard and precarious with only their dog, Alligator, and a shotgun for protection – but it can be harder when Joe’s around. At just twelve years of age Molly’s eldest son Danny is the true man of the house, determined to see his mother and siblings safe – from raging floodwaters, hunger and intruders, man and reptile. Danny is mature beyond his years, but there are some things no child should see. He knows more than most just what it takes to be a drover’s wife. One night under the moon’s watch, Molly has a visitor of a different kind – a black ‘story keeper’, Yadaka. He’s on the run from authorities in the nearby town, and exchanges kindness for shelter. Both know that justice in this nation caught between two worlds can be as brutal as its landscape. But in their short time together, Yadaka shows Molly a secret truth, and the strength to imagine a different path. Full of fury and power, Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson is a brave reimagining of the Henry Lawson short story that has become an Australian classic. Brilliantly plotted, it is a compelling thriller of our pioneering past that confronts head-on issues of today: race, gender, violence and inheritance.

The Drover's Wives

The Drover's Wives
Author: Ryan O'Neill
Publisher:
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2018-07
Genre: Australian fiction
ISBN: 9781925589290

Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drover's Wife' is an Australian classic that has sparked interpretations on the page, on canvas and on the stage. But it has never been so thoroughly, or hilariously, reimagined as by Ryan O'Neill, remixing and revising Lawson's masterpiece in ninety-nine different ways. You'll be amused, delighted and surprised by a Year 8 essay, a sporting commentary, a pop song, a cento, a dance and many more. Inventive and unexpected, this is laugh-out-loud literature from one of Australia's finest satirists.

The Drover's Wife

The Drover's Wife
Author: Frank Moorhouse
Publisher: Random House Australia
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2017-10-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0143784838

Since Henry Lawson wrote his story 'The Drover’s Wife' in 1892, Australian writers, painters, performers and photographers have created a wonderful tradition of drover's wife works, stories and images. The Russell Drysdale painting from 1945 extended the mythology and it, too, has become an Australian icon. Other versions of the Lawson story have been written by Murray Bail, Barbara Jefferis, Mandy Sayer, David Ireland, Madeleine Watts and others, up to the present, including Leah Purcell's play and Ryan O’Neill’s graphic novel. In essays and commentary, Frank Moorhouse examines our ongoing fascination with this story and has collected some of the best pieces of writing on the subject. This remarkable, gorgeous book is, he writes, 'a monument to the drovers' wives'.

The Drover's Wives

The Drover's Wives
Author: Ryan O'Neill
Publisher:
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2019
Genre: Northern Territory
ISBN: 9781785630910

Henry Lawson's short story The Drover's Wife is an Australian classic that has sparked interpretations on the page, on canvas and on the stage. But it has never been so thoroughly, or hilariously, reimagined as by Ryan O'Neill, remixing and revising Lawson's masterpiece in 101 different ways. The variations include a a pop song, a sporting commentary, a 1980s computer game, an insurance claim, a Hollywood movie adaptation, a cryptic crossword and even the selection of paint swatches you can see on this back cover. Inventive and unexpected, this is laugh-out-loud literature from the author of the award-winning Their Brilliant Careers. Inventive and unexpected, this is laugh-out-loud literature from one of Australia's finest satirists.

The Drover's Daughter

The Drover's Daughter
Author: Patsy Kemp
Publisher: Brolga Publishing
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0648697010

Drovers hold an iconic place in our Australian identity, due to the courage and perseverance needed to transport cattle and sheep hundreds of kilometres through rural and outback areas. But what of the women and children who travelled with them?

The Drover's Wives

The Drover's Wives
Author: Ryan O'Neill
Publisher: Eye & Lightning Books
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2019-05-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1785631365

Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drover's Wife' is an Australian classic that has sparked interpretations on the page, on canvas and on the stage. But it has never been so thoroughly, or hilariously, reimagined as by Ryan O'Neill, remixing and revising Lawson's masterpiece in 101 different ways. The variations include a pop song, a sporting commentary, a 1980s computer game, an insurance claim, a Hollywood movie adaptation, a cryptic crossword and even a selection of paint swatches. Inventive and unexpected, this is laugh-out-loud literature from the author of the award-winning Their Brilliant Careers. 'Pitch perfect...hilarious... This is a book that begs to be read aloud' THE AUSTRALIAN'More go than Queneau' DAVID BELBIN 'A cerebrally imaginative tour de force' FRANK MOORHOUSE

Fortunate Life

Fortunate Life
Author: A.B. Facey
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2018-04-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1925591417

Albert Facey’s story is the story of Australia.Born in 1894, and first sent to work at the age of eight, Facey lived the rough frontier life of a labourer and farmer and jackaroo, becoming lost and then rescued by Indigenous trackers, then gaining a hard-won literacy, surviving Gallipoli, raising a family through the Depression, losing a son in the Second World War, and meeting his beloved Evelyn with whom he shared nearly sixty years of marriage.Despite enduring unimaginable hardships, Facey always saw his life as a fortunate one.A true classic of Australian literature, Facey’s simply penned story offers a unique window onto the history of Australian life through the greater part of the twentieth century – the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man.

Born to Run

Born to Run
Author: Cathy Freeman
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2007-03-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1742282490

Hi guys,Ever since I was little I only had one dream – to win a gold medal at the Olympics. When I was twenty-seven years old, my dream came true. I'll never forget that night at the Sydney 2000 Games – as I crossed the finish line, it was as if the whole of Australia was cheering for me. Sometimes I still wonder how it happened. When I was growing up, I felt no different to anyone else. I loved having fun with my brothers, sleeping over at nanna's and going horse riding with my dad. But I especially loved to run. With the help of my family, coaches and teachers, I became the best female 400-metre runner in the world. I hope you enjoy my story, and that it inspires you to chase after your dreams too!

Dread Nation

Dread Nation
Author: Justina Ireland
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2018-04-03
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062570625

New York Times bestseller; 6 starred reviews! At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland's stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet. Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations. But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems. "Abundant action, thoughtful worldbuilding, and a brave, smart, and skillfully drawn cast entertain as Ireland illustrates the ignorance and immorality of racial discrimination and examines the relationship between equality and freedom." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")