The Shiralee

by D'Arcy Niland

Paperback, 1955

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Genres

General Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

Melbourne, Vic.: Penguin Group (Australia), 2010

Description

A true Australian classic, warmly welcomed into the Bolinda Classics range. A shiralee is a swag, a burden, a bloody millstone - and that's what four-year-old Buster is to her father, Macauley. He takes the child on the road with him to spite his wife, but months pass and still no word comes to ask for the little girl back. Strangers to each other at first, father and daughter drift aimlessly through the dusty towns of Australia, sleeping rough and relying on odd jobs for food and money. Buster's resilience and trust slowly erode Macauley's resentment, and when he's finally able to get rid of her, he realises he can't let his shiralee go. In evocative prose that vividly conjures images of rural Australia, The Shiralee reveal an understanding of the paradoxical nature of the burdens we carry, creates a moving portrait of fatherhood, told with gruff humour and a gentle pathos.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member drmaf

It may be unpatriotic of me, but I dont read much Australian literature, probably because having been force-fed Australian history at school (and now believing that a mere 200 years does not actually constitute "a history") turned me off for life. However I'll certainly slip in a good word for this

unpretentious little charmer. It certainly wont excercise your thinking apparatus very hard, but it's sweet, funny and has two of the most engaging lead characters I've come across. Think of it as Australia's answer to "Of Mice and Men" (minus the sexual innuendo and violence) and you won't be far off.

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LibraryThing member Fliss88

A book first published in July 1955, the month after I was born! Buster, a four year old girl snatched from a negligent mother by her father, starts life on the road with her dad, Macauley, a man she barely knows. Taking Buster to get even with his wife backfires a little and Macauley finds his

feelings change as he gets to know his daughter who is now a little burden, his responsibility, his shiralee. Life on the road is not much suited for a little girl, and as a man with a quick temper he finds more than his fair share of trouble along the way. He's an big honest bloke who's prepared to work hard and long for a day's pay, but work is hard to find. He and Buster have to walk long miles, living on billy tea and meals cooked on an open fire, down by a creek on the outskirts of small country towns. D'arcy Niland has given them some true blue Aussie characters to meet along the way, the language is a bit dated but I imagine it's true to the year in which it was written. The final chapter holds an unexpected twist for both Buster and Macauley and for Macualey and his estranged wife, a twist that sets their future on a new path.

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