- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Canongate Books; Main edition (6 Aug. 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1838851232
- ISBN-13: 978-1838851231
Synopsis
It is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the ward of a Devon clergyman, knows she has few prospects. When proud, scarred soldier John Macarthur promises her the earth one midsummer’s night, she believes him.
But Elizabeth soon realises she has made a terrible mistake. Her new husband is reckless, tormented, driven by some dark rage at the world. He tells her he is to take up a position as Lieutenant in a New South Wales penal colony and she has no choice but to go. Sailing for six months to the far side of the globe with a child growing inside her, she arrives to find Sydney Town a brutal, dusty, hungry place of makeshift shelters, failing crops, scheming and rumours.
All her life she has learned to be obliging, to fold herself up small. Now, in the vast landscapes of an unknown continent, Elizabeth has to discover a strength she never imagined, and passions she could never express.
Review
One of my favourite books of all time is The Secret River by Kate Grenville, and it is a books that has stayed with me even though it’s nearly ten years since I first read it. I was really excited to receive a copy of her new book A Room Made of Leaves to read and review. As with her previous books, Kate Grenville takes us back to New South Wales, Australia and the penal colony there. This is the story of Elizabeth Macarthur, who arrived in New South Wales in 1791, in the early years of the penal colony with her husband John who was a Lieutenant in the New South Wales Corps. Whereas a lot is known about her husband and his rise among the ranks, Elizabeth’s story is lesser known, but just as interesting. Taken from memoirs, this is the story of a young woman, in a marriage with no love with a self aggrandising man, who uses her resources to adapt, and make a life for herself in difficult and inhospitable circumstances.
This is definitely another wow novel from Kate Grenville, with a main character in Elizabeth that I doubt I will ever forget. This book has it all, there is adventure, romance, drama, a wonderful cast of characters and a moving and fascinating plot line. As with her previous books, Kate Grenville captures the atmosphere, the historical climate both cultural and social, and the human emotions of her characters. The descriptive prose paints a portrait of the landscape, the exotic flora and fauna, the harshness of the new land where crops can’t grow and the lives of those who live there; the soldiers, their wives and the indigenous peoples.
Elizabeth is an intriguing and fascinating character who I grew to admire and love the more I read her story. She finds herself in a loveless marriage with a husband who is cold, selfish, full of self importance and a cruel streak, and then finds herself on the other side of the world. Whereas this may break many women, Elizabeth turns the negatives into positives and plays her husband at his own game. She uses her time to learn new skills, hosts afternoon tea with music for the soldiers stationed there, and takes an interest in botany to learn what crops and plants can grow in New South Wales, eventually using that knowledge to grow crops when John gets a portion of land to farm. Her positivity and adaptability to her circumstances comes through in this book, she succeeded in a climate where many failed and made a success of her life, at Elizabeth Farm that she ran with her husband.
Whenever there is a book about the penal colony in Australia the subject of Colonialism. It’s never an easy subject but Kate Grenville shows how Elizabeth, after befriending Mr Dawes a scientist, sits down with the local indigenous tribal people and tries to learn more about them rather than spreading fear about them, finding the common link of children, music anf language. The land wars, where the British just took land, are shocking in today’s eyes, and it is not surprising that the indigenous people fought back, causing destruction and death. It also raises the issues of women’s rights, marriage and the justice system in the late eighteenth century.
A House Made Of Leaves is an honest and powerful story of one woman facing adversity head on and coming out on top. She could be seen as a victim of circumstance, but Kate Grenville shows that Elizabeth was no victim, she was intelligent, and resourceful in making a life for herself. Beautifully written, with engaging prose this is a fascinating and inspirational read, and I think historical fiction at it’s best.
