Bridget : a New Australian by James Moloney
A New Australian series. Omnibus Books (Scholastic
Australia), 2015. ISBN: 9781742990989
This book introduces a new series from Scholastic called A New
Australian, which will tell the migration stories of children to
Australia, each book written by individual authors. Irish history is
fertile ground for storytelling; one of its most tragic episodes was
the potato famine of the mid-1800s. This intersected with the
history of pioneer Australia, leading to one of the great waves of
migration to this land. The story begins with the Nelligans, an
Irish cottier family who are evicted by their English landlord and
eventually find refuge in a workhouse, sparse as it is.
Heartbreaking circumstances provide an opportunity for two of the
sisters, Maeve and Bridget, to sail to Australia.
Because of the kindness of the ship's doctor - and Bridget's uncanny
ability to capture rats - the trip for the girls is relatively
comfortable, though they suffer at the hands of religious bigotry
amongst other girls and their bitter Matron Mrs Clements. The
bigotry continues after the two sisters are indentured as house help
and taken to the new colony of Brisbane Town. One escapes the
oppression through a surprise marriage. Bridget, the younger one
must bide her time under increasingly cruel treatment until her
chance comes to find freedom in the new land, caring for the animals
that she loves.
The story reveals the hardship and oppression suffered by the poor
Irish of the time, from the English landlords at home, to the gentry
of a pioneer land. Other hardships of sea travel and life in a raw
country are alluded to but it is the lot of the defenceless and
dependent servant girl that is the focus here. The ending of the
book is more worthy of a pastoral adventure than historical fiction,
though emigration to an unknown land could be seen as a melding of
the genre, a historical adventure. Useful as a pleasant read for
wide reading schemes, this book could also be used as a serial read
for historic background in units on European pioneer settlement in
Australia.
Kerry Neary