This month I have read two vintage Australian novels. I got one of these for free at a thrift shop book giveaway, and the other one was found at the Goodwill Bins (I paid something like 20 cents for it). It just goes to show you that you can get interesting books for free (or a very low cost) if you are in the right place at the right time.
The first one that I read was Rain Comes to Yamboorah by Reginald Ottley. This book was published in the 1960s but the story takes place around the 1930s. In addition, this book was the third book of a trilogy but I had never read the first two books. I wasn’t aware of that when I picked it up, but I felt that it was mostly fine without having read the first two books. This book didn’t have much in the way of plot, but it was an interesting look into daily life for the time and location of the story. As a result, it felt a lot like time traveling or unearthing a time capsule. I enjoyed it for the moments it brought up Australian wildlife and the customs of Aboriginal people, but I also felt like it wasn’t particularly going to take me anywhere as a reader with regard to the story. So for that reason I would give it about a 3 out of 5, and I won’t be keeping the book. I wouldn’t mind reading the other books by this author but I also didn’t feel like it would be especially worth it to me to seek them out.
The second book that I read was Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner. It was written in the 1890s and set around the same time period. The story revolved around a family with seven children ranging from a baby to a sixteen year old, and most of them were trouble makers. The youngest child was the only one of them from the father’s second wife, who he married after his first wife died. The second wife, being only twenty years old, did not always know how to handle all of the children, and their father was also a little bit helpless as a parent at times. In general it was a fast read and an interesting look into the time period. Most of the story however didn’t feel particularly Australian to me until the last part of the book, when the children went with their stepmother to her childhood home in a more rural area. I discovered that this author wrote a couple more books about this family which take place later. I would not mind reading those. This book overall was quite enjoyable and touching at times, but it seemed to end rather abruptly. I would give it about a 4 out of 5. I am debating whether I will keep the book or pass it on to someone else.
星女 