Robyn Bishop is a Melbourne-based author and playwright. Her latest novel is The Rust Red Land.
It’s the late 1800s in rural New South Wales and Matilda, as the oldest daughter, is expected to cook, clean and help Mama with her brothers and sisters. But her inquiring mind will not be stilled nor her rebellious spirit tamed.
In the rust red landscape, both striking and harsh, and against the backdrop of world wars and a changing Australia, Matilda is torn between her desire for freedom and allegiance to her growing family.
This sweeping novel brings to life the injustices faced by women in the 1800s and 1900s. Matilda and her family show how the grip of patriarchy tried to strangle the ambitions of women, but there were women who refused to give up.
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‘You ask too many questions, Matilda. It’s not becoming in a girl.’
But Matilda is full of questions. It’s the late 1800s in rural New South Wales and Matilda, as the oldest daughter, is expected to cook, clean and help Mama with her brothers and sisters. But her inquiring mind will not be stilled nor her rebellious spirit tamed. When frustration overcomes her, she finds escape in the land she loves and in her imagination, nourished by books.
In the rust red landscape, both striking and harsh, and against the backdrop of World Wars and a changing Australia, Matilda is torn between her desire for freedom and allegiance to her growing family. With their never-ending demands, and crises of poverty, drought and illness, what Matilda really wants seems further from her reach. Will she ever see the sea? Have a vocation and earn her own money? Have the time to read?
This sweeping novel brings to life the injustices faced by women in the 1800s and 1900s. Punctuated with betrayal and loyalty, hope and despair, love and loss, Matilda and her family come alive showing how the grip of patriarchy tried to strangle the ambitions of women, but there were women who refused to give up.
OCTOBER 2023 | ISBN 9781925950854 | Paperback | 320 pages | 229 x 152 mm
Powerfully evoking time and place, a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman in an ordinary man's world.
—Noni Hazlehurst