The Drover's Wife

In 1892 Henry Lawson published his short story, The Drover's Wife, in The Bulletin. I remember reading the story at primary school, probably in 1958 as it was part of the collection of short stories and poetry that school children read in Grade 5 in the Victorian Readers Fifth Book.

In this version of The Drover's Wife Leah Purcell has written her account of the story of the dangers faced by a woman and her young family left living in a shanty in the bush while her husband is off droving sheep for months at a time.

Leah Pucell has used the esence of Lawson's story to create a novel about the determination of a woman to protect her young family from the dangers and challengers of living outside a small outback community in the Snowy Mountains. Her husband has gone off droving again and the family is short of food. She is also expecting another baby. Her twelve year old son, Danny, has to grow up quickly as he strives to assist his mother and keep an eye on his younger siblings. This is not a retelling of Lawson's story but the author has expanded some of the incidents that occurred in the short story to assist in the creation of her own work. Loneliness and the hardship of living in the bush is one theme along with the abuse of women.  The author also examines relationships between whites and aborigines as well as the value of family.

The Drover's Wife, like Gulliver's Wife, is another example of an author creating and expanding a new world and story from a well known story.


The Drover's Wife - a short story by Henry Lawson