"My mother was not one to say oh dear or oh my. She was one to say fuck. And often."
A hauntingly beautiful story that brings to life the story of Jessie Hickman, a woman who made her way through life in the Australian wilderness in the 1920's by traveling with a circus and then stealing horses. Jessie lands in prison and is released to Fitz Henry as a horse trainer, but Fitz has other ideas. Forced into marriage and worse, Jessie takes matters with Fitz into her own hands and becomes an outlaw once again.
The choice of narrator for the story was the most compelling aspect for me. From the perspective of Jessie's dead and buried child, Jessie's character is built in a magical light from the person who loves her the most. The writing is in a beautiful prose that made for easy reading and there were many phrases that made me stop and think.
" That is how we differ, my mother and I: I do not know death as a river. I know it as a magic hall of mirrors and within it there is a door and the door opens both ways."
While Jessie's story is captivating and her exploits could easily hold on their own, I actually wanted to know more about the buried child. It's story in death begins, but we don't really hear any more about it. A lot of interesting things were happening in the dirt! The secondary characters of Jack Brown and Andrew Barlow add another layer of mystery that I really did not see coming in the end! Overall, a unique and expertly written story of an Australian folk hero.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
A hauntingly beautiful story that brings to life the story of Jessie Hickman, a woman who made her way through life in the Australian wilderness in the 1920's by traveling with a circus and then stealing horses. Jessie lands in prison and is released to Fitz Henry as a horse trainer, but Fitz has other ideas. Forced into marriage and worse, Jessie takes matters with Fitz into her own hands and becomes an outlaw once again.
The choice of narrator for the story was the most compelling aspect for me. From the perspective of Jessie's dead and buried child, Jessie's character is built in a magical light from the person who loves her the most. The writing is in a beautiful prose that made for easy reading and there were many phrases that made me stop and think.
" That is how we differ, my mother and I: I do not know death as a river. I know it as a magic hall of mirrors and within it there is a door and the door opens both ways."
While Jessie's story is captivating and her exploits could easily hold on their own, I actually wanted to know more about the buried child. It's story in death begins, but we don't really hear any more about it. A lot of interesting things were happening in the dirt! The secondary characters of Jack Brown and Andrew Barlow add another layer of mystery that I really did not see coming in the end! Overall, a unique and expertly written story of an Australian folk hero.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
