Genre: Autobiography / memoir

Narrative Style: First person, chronological

Rating: 3/5

Published: 1908

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Jeannie Gunn is newly married and has moved out to Elsey Station with her husband. This is an account of the first year. Although published as a novel, the work is recognised as being autobiographical. Jeannie changed the names of the principal characters to keep their identity secret.

I must admit, I thought I might enjoy this more than I did. It does give a strong impression of what life must have been like in the Never Never. The difficulties are described vividly and I know that I would not have been able to cope. Jeannie herself is a strong character who faces all challenges head on including the attitudes of the men already at the station.

The problem is there is no real tension. Events never build to a climax nor is there any sense of real danger. Jeannie is unrelentingly cheerful no matter what is thrown at her and that is a little wearing as well.

I found it hard to keep in my head who was who and I would have preferred it if the others had real names rather than the Dandy, the Quiet Stockman and so on. I found I couldn’t distinguish between them or get a handle on what they were like.

Finally, there is a liberal use of the N-word and that was a little hard to take even when I know that it wasn’t racially charged in the same way it is now. Events such as the ‘nigger-hunt’ are described as if it were merely a picnic and not a potentially lethal clash between white and black.

As a historical document, this is interesting and shows what life was like at that time. As a casual read, it wasn’t a lot of fun.