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
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