"In the 1890s, when a woman's role was seen as marrying well and raising a family, Daisy Bates reinvented herself from humble governess to heiress-traveller and 'woman of science'. She would become one of the best-known and most controversial ethnologists in history, and one of the first people to put Aboriginal culture on the map.
Born into tough circumstances, Daisy's prospects were dim; her father an alcoholic bootmaker, her mother dying of consumption when Daisy was only four years old. Through sheer strength of will, young Daisy overcame her miserable start, and in 1883 she migrated to Australia with a boatload of orphans, passing herself off as an heiress who taught for fun. Marriage followed-first with the young Breaker Morant, then bigamously with two other husbands."
Lee said
I found Susanna de Vries account of Daisy Bates much more then just ' Queen of the Never Never'. She was also 'Queen of Bigamy', 'Queen of Disception' and way way ahead of her time. How she survived to the age she did contradicts all our knowledge of healthy eating and hygiene.
A truely remarkable story about a truely remarkable woman. I loved this book.
Judith said
An intriguing and exhaustively researched insight into one of Australia's legends.This woman was the ultimate fantasist who used her intelligence to go further than her background would have allowed at that time. She and Breaker Morant would have made a great pair each living out fantasy but neither seeing that in the other.Much of what she did would appear totally philanthropic, but I have the niggling feeling that she was as much motivated by her regal role as by altruism.It is quite amazing that it took Susan De Vries' work to expose the whole story where other biographers based their work on "face value"An interesting book that, again, I probably would not have chosen but I rate it 4/5
Thursday Book Club Rating
An intriguing and exhaustively researched insight into one of Australia's legends.This woman was the ultimate fantasist who used her intelligence to go further than her background would have allowed at that time. She and Breaker Morant would have made a great pair each living out fantasy but neither seeing that in the other.Much of what she did would appear totally philanthropic, but I have the niggling feeling that she was as much motivated by her regal role as by altruism.It is quite amazing that it took Susan De Vries' work to expose the whole story where other biographers based their work on "face value"An interesting book that, again, I probably would not have chosen but I rate it 4/5
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