AustLit

Rose Paterson's seven children all survived childhood and grew to maturity. No mean feat for a woman on an isolated sheep station in New South Wales in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In this book her letters to her sister Nora Murray-Prior reveal with "intellectual and emotional energy ... in well-chosen language and imagery a first-hand account" of her life. Colin Roderick says in his introduction to the letters that they were written by a woman of great "intellectual and emotional energy ... in well-chosen language and imagery" and that her reports rely "greatly on the literary skill of the writer". Her letters also give an insight into the abilities and personality of her son 'Banjo' Paterson. Colin Roderick comments on the background and circumstances surrounding the personalities and incidents described in the correspondence.