AustLit

'THE Cow Pasture Road runs through one of the oldest settled districts in Australia, and Mr. Wilson touches upon its history from the time of the discovery of the bull and cow which came out in the First Fleet and strayed from Sydney, much to the dismay of Governor Phillip and his small and poorly-fed community. But anyone who goes to this book for the dull facts of history will be disappointed. He will find all the facts elsewhere; but here is something much better and far rarer. Mr. Wilson expresses his own delight in the beauty of the landscape, the honest handiwork of man, and the mellowing influence of time upon the characters of men and buildings; he allows his imagination to play with the facts and to reconstruct legends, besides creating a model town called Celestium. It is the work of an independent mind amusing itself with dreams of houses and cities as they might be made — strong, simple, and beautiful — and men as they might develop — natural and interesting— and it will appeal to those — an ever-increasing number in Australia, it is gratifying to observe — who care for good writing and good art.'

Source: 'The Cow Pasture Road', Sydney Mail, 27 October 1920, p.15.