This book depicts a time when people of many walks of life had to struggle through poverty and disease in order to survive--simply survive.
The author uses her own family heritage to write, via a fictional account, bout the trials and tribulations her family dealt with. She brings those to life by focusing on the main character, Minnie, and what Minnie must do to overcome disease and death in her family as a child. Minnie loses her mother to consumption when Minnie's only two years old while living in Northern Ireland. During that time, when a family member dies from consumption, that family is shunned by neighbors. Minnie and her sisters don't understand how their once-friendly neighbors now won't speak to them. Her father (her Da) remarries, then dies himself of consumption, and her stepmother decides they must leave Belfast. She books the surviving family members on a ship to Australia.
Upon arriving in Australia, Minnie and her sisters live with their stepmother, who is not an evil stepmother per se, but she has plans for the family. She sends three of the sisters off to work in a factory, which turns out to be a horrible environment for them. More misery and more death await the family.
From the very beginning, I was invested in the novel's characters. The author brings them alive through the tragedies they face and how they handle each one. Minnie, especially, as the main character, is a tower of strength, even though her heart is breaking as she loses family members through early deaths, including one of her own children. The author brings her alive through her determination and courage, demonstrating the role of strong women during the trying times in which the real Minnie lived. She was in Australia during World War I, when Australian men were dying at an alarming rate at places such as Gallipoli. She lived through the Great Depression, which had an impact on Australia, as well as in the United States. She and her family also lived on a farm during a horrible drought that impacted the entire continent of Australia.
And yet, Minnie persisted. She was determined to do whatever was needed to survive--and even thrive--for her family, in hopes that her children might have a better life than she did.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants not only a remarkable story about resilience, but also a peek into history when life wasn't made easier by technology and medical improvements that perhaps we all take for granted today.
If I had a complaint about this book, it would be that I had to get used to the Australian use of single quotation marks (i.e., ') versus double quotation marks (i.e., ") to begin and end quotes. But that's just because I'm used to the way we do things in the United States.
That's a minor quibble in what is a compelling story. I think this is an interesting book worthy of reading, especially with such interesting characters.
