Unsettled: a journey through time and space

Included in the books written by Australian author Kate Grenville are a number of historical fiction novels where sometimes the main characters are members of her family. Her family history in Australia goes back to convict times so many generations of her family have lived in this country. In Unsettled: a journey through time and place, Kate Grenville analyses her family story by exploring the areas where family members once lived and examining their possible relationships with the land that was their home and with the indigenous people who originally lived in the bush but is now an area of largely non-indigenous settlement.

On this road trip of discovery the author travels through parts of New South Wales where members of her family lived. She discovers that some had had encounters with indigenous Australians though for most there is no proof. However, stories of events were often covered up. Kate Grenville contemplates what it must have been like for the indigenous people to have to change their way of life when Europeans arrived in their country. She also reflects on the challenges faced by people like her ancestors attempting to make a new life in a strange land.

There is no easy solution to rectifying events of the past. At the end of the book she visits the memorial at Myall Creek where a terrible massacre of indigenous people occurred in 1838. In 2000, a plaque was unveiled at the site of the massacre. The plaque read:

In memory of the Wirrayaraay people who were murdered on the slopes of this ridge in an unprovoked but premeditated act in the late afternoon of 10 June 1838. Erected on 10 June 2000 by a group of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians in an act of reconciliation, and in acknowledgment of the truth of our shared history. We Remember them (Ngiyani winangay ganunga).

 Kate Grenville left the site with the belief that although we cannot undo what has been done, hopefully indigenous and non-indigenous people can work together in a spirit of reconciliation to create a better future for all. This is a book that all Australians should read and contemplate.

National Heritage Places - Myall Creek Massacre 

One life: my mother's story

Nance Russell would have liked to have been a writer but apart from one letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald this aspect of her life did not eventuate. After her mother's death, Australian author, Kate Grenville, discovered a number of notebooks and papers on which Nance had made notes about her early life. These form the basis of her mother's story.

After leaving school Nance became an apprentice pharmacist and eventually a pharmacist, on two occasions managing her own pharmacy. Much of the book involves the challenges of a young mother attempting to work when she has a young family to care for. Nance had married Kenneth Gee but although he appreciated the extra income brought into the family by his wife, which allowed him to go off on a tangent and follow his own pursuits, he was oblivious to the additional strain placed on his wife. 

Once again this is a biography demonstrating the challenges faced by women in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s when attempting to lead rewarding professional lives. Many years later Nance was able to follow some of her dreams including completing an Arts Degree and becoming a teacher. She was also able to travel overseas on several occasions. She must have been a strong and independent woman.

Restless Dolly Maunder

Later in her life Dolly realised that she had just wanted to be a woman with the same freedom as men who normally controlled their own lifestyle and the lifestyle of their families.

Dolly Maunder had been restless from the time she took her first steps. Attending the local school, Dolly decided that she would like to be a teacher however her father had other plans. She was to stay on the family farm helping her mother with the cooking and household tasks. Dolly definitely wanted more from life than this.

When Dolly was born in 1880, some women were beginning to take control of their own lives. However Dolly was born into a family in rural New South Wales where her father made the decisions and children who rebelled felt the wrath of his leather belt.

Dolly met two young men who may have been marriage prospects but these men were deterred because of Dolly's family's low social standing or by religion. Eventually her family insisted that she should marry Bert, a worker on their farm. Dolly and Bert then moved to another property.

Bert and Dolly made improvements to the property and then Dolly became restless and they set out to develop another project. As well as farming, the pair managed hotels and boarding houses. With each project their financial position improved but Dolly was still restless. She always wanted more, to try something new. Dolly and Bert had three children but later in life Dolly realised that she didn't really have the knack of being a mother and the relationship with her children was strained. 

Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville, as well as telling Dolly's story, provides a social history reflecting on the lives of women from the later years of the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. Gradually there were changes in expectations as some women began to object to the domination of men in their lives, particularly when women wanted to own property in their name. The effects of the 1930s Depression, followed by the Second World War, on the lives of women and their families, also shapes the latter years of Dolly's life.

Dolly Maunder (Sarah Catherine Maunder) was Kate Grenville's grandmother.  Kate did not know her grandmother well but she did know that there were tensions between members of her family and her grandmother. The author collected together the small number of facts that she knew about the life of her grandmother to form the basis of this novel in the hope of better understanding the life of Dolly Maunder.

Women like Dolly helped open the doors for the next generations of women to enjoy more freedom in how they lived their lives. After reading this novel I plan to look more carefully at the lives of my family members who were of the same generation as Dolly in order to better understand their lives and their sometimes strained relationships with younger generations.

Thank you to Better Reading for a preview copy of this novel which is due for publication in July. (#BRPreview)

Shortlisted for 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction (Previously Orange Prize for Fiction) - honours the best novel published in Britain in English by a woman.

Elizabeth Macarthur's Letters

John Macarthur has long been considered a leading figure in early Sydney colonial history however recently attention has been directed towards his wife, Elizabeth, highlighting her role in the partnership.

In the novel, A Room Made of Leaves, Kate Grenville used Elizabeth as the major character. Another recent book featuring Elizabeth is Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams - a novel based on the lives of Elizabeth Macarthur and Elizabeth Macquarie in the colony, especially their roles as wives of two powerful men. 

When researching records for A Room Made of Leaves, Kate Grenville came across a selection of letters that Elizabeth Macarthur had written to her family in England about her life in New South Wales. An edited selection of the letters is included in the book, Elizabeth Macarthur's Letters, along with brief analysis by the editor explaining what was happening when the letters were written.

This compilation not only shows an aspect of the life and relationship between Elizabeth and John but more importantly, for those of us interested in this period of history, adds context to what was happening in the colony at the time.

It has long been known, by observing reports of his actions, that John Macarthur was often a ruthless and conflicted man, however the correspondence shows John's mental deterioration, including behaviour towards his family, towards the  end of his life. It is perhaps fortunate for the colony that Elizabeth was there to keep the family together and to oversee the running of the family properties when her husband was absent.

A Room Made of Leaves

This novel by Kate Grenville is based on the life of Elizabeth Macarthur who arrived in Australia with her husband in 1790. She was the first free woman to settle in this remote colony on the other side of the world from her home in Devon, England. 

We know a lot about John Macarthur but not a great deal is known about his wife although she played an important part in the history of the new settlement. 

Elizabeth wrote a partial record of the trip to Australia and some correspondence sent home to family and friends has also survived. But does this provide a true picture of Elizabeth's life in Australia, especially as she knew that whatever she wrote would be read by her husband and circulated among family members and their friends? This could make it difficult to express her true feelings.

Kate Grenville has created the device that before she died Elizabeth wrote a full record of her life, telling the story as it really was. The record was lost but recently discovered by the author and presented in this book. However in the novel Elizabeth warns the reader - Do not believe too quickly! Quotations from Elizabeth's actual letters are provided in the book, often accompanied by comments from the fictional Elizabeth expressing the hope that the content of the letters should not be taken at face value.

The novel covers Elizabeth's early life, the event that led to her marrying John Macarthur and the decision to travel to Australia to improve his prospects and to make his fortune. It then recounts events that may have occurred during their first thirteen years in the colony. No secret is made of the fact that John Macarthur was not a pleasant man but, having married him, Elizabeth makes the best of a bad situation. It is when they obtain land for a farm that she has the opportunity to do something that she really enjoys, overseeing the development of the family's flock of sheep.

The novel creates a picture of what life in the colony may have been like for a woman like Elizabeth, the challenges faced with a young family and the loneliness. There was also the issue of having to try and pacify a husband who was prone to cause fights with his aquaintances.

The relationship between the indigenous population and the new settlers is also a feature of the novel.

Kate Grenville has written a number of novels set in the colony of New South Wales and, as well as providing a good story, they help provide a picture of what it may have been like living in the colony during that time. Readers may also like to investigate some of the actual events featuring in the novel.

I also had a family history interest in reading this novel. The historical record shows that after the period covered in this book there were a number of instances where John Macarthur expressed his view about one of my ancestors, an emancipist who had become successful in the colony.

Winner of the 2021 Christina Stead Prize for fiction in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards

Elizabeth Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography

John Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography

Sarah Thornhill

This book is the sequel to Kate Grenville's novel, The Secret River, about William Thornhill and his family establishing a settlement on the Hawkesbury River in the early 1800s. This book is a continuation of the story told from the the viewpoint of  Sarah Thornhill, William's daughter. Born and bred in New South Wales the independent Sarah sets out to establish her own life but discovers that untold family secrets can impact on the lives of future generations.

As in The Secret River much of the story revolves around the relationships between the settlers and the Aboriginal people living in the area and as in The Secret River a variety of reactions are shown to the tensions that develop. In Sarah Thornhill this thread is expanded to include the attitudes towards Sarah's niece whose father was Sarah's brother, Will, who married a Maori when he was sealing in New Zealand.

Once again this is a beautifully written work of fiction set in New South Wales from the 1830s. The reader, as well becoming involved in Sarah's story, is encouraged to consider the many challenges faced and decisions made by Australian pioneers. Many of the challenges in regard to race relations continue today.

Go to The Lieutenant and The Secret River for my post on the earlier books in this series.

Kate Grenville's website contains summaries and detailed additional information about her books.

The writing book

In 1990 Kate Grenville wrote, the writing book: a workbook for fiction writers. This is a resource book for potential writers of fiction to read examples from Australian authors and to undertake a series of exercises designed to help them understand the fundamentals of writing either a book or a short story. Chapters include Getting started, Sorting through, Character, Point of view, Voice, Dialogue, Description, Design and Revision. Examples in early chapters are reworked into a completed short story at the end of the book as an example of how a few ideas can be worked and reworked into a finished product. The book is a practical starting point for would be writers though the age of the book is apparent in many of the examples used.

The Lieutenant and The Secret River

In 2005 Kate Grenville published a book set in convict times, The secret river. The novel traces the life of William Thornhill and his family. William is a waterman on the Thames but changing circumstances make him take chances to help support his family and result in his transportation to New South Wales. His wife and children are allowed to also travel on the ship and on arrival in New South Wales he was assigned to his wife, Sal. Together they established a new life in the colony facing the challenges of living in land very different from England, strange flora and fauna, making a life from nothing. 

William's skills on the water help him earn a living and eventually the family faces the challenge of establishing their own settlement on the river. The relationship between the Aborigines and the new settlers is interwoven throughout the story providing a variety of viewpoints as Will and his family strive to make a life in a new land. The secret river is a work of fiction but it provides insights into what life was possibly like for the settlers in New South Wales early in the nineteenth century.

Searching for the secret river examines the five years of research undertaken before writing the book. Originally the author was exploring her family history with no intention of writing a book but as the research continued she realised that she had discovered a wealth of material in which to set a novel. The end result was The secret river.

Kate Grenville's next book, The Lieutenant, traces the life of Daniel Rooke, a lieutenant in the marines posted to New South Wales in 1788. The young Daniel was selected to study at the Portsmouth Naval Academy where he was introduced to astronomy. Not being able to afford a commission in the navy he joined the marines as a navigator and was then sent to the new colony of New South Wales as an astronomer. 

Isolated by choice from the main settlement he studied not only the stars but also the surrounding environment and particularly the Aborigines who visited his camp. Interested in languages he made it his project to learn to communicate with his visitors, especially a young girl, Tagaran. Always an outsider, Daniel Rooke discovered difficulties in reconciling his observations and understandings of his new environment and its people with the strict demands of discipline and obeying of orders expected of a marine.

The book is inspired by the notebooks of William Dawes where he wrote of his experiences in the new colony. This is however a work of fiction and although the novel is obviously set in New South Wales the names of the characters in the book are fictitious.