Little-known tale is spellbinding

A ROOM MADE OF LEAVES

Author: Kate Grenville Publisher: Text

RRP: $39.99 Reviewer: Mary Ann Elliott

THIS is the renowned Australian author’s first novel in almost a decade, following her international bestseller,

The Secret River, now a much-loved classic.

This time Kate Grenville turns her attention to Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of the notorious John, wool baron in early Sydney.

With her penchant for historical fiction, Grenville adroitly navigates the anecdotal stories and invites us to read between the lines of documented history.

In doing so, she unmasks a littleknown colonial woman and produces a spellbinding tale.

With most Australian history mainly about men, Elizabeth Macarthur has

HERE IS HISTORY TURNED INSIDE OUT. IN TRUTH, ELIZABETH MANAGED THE WOOL INDUSTRY IN HER HUSBAND’S MANY ABSENCES IN ENGLAND, RUNNING THEIR FARM AND MANAGING A WORKFORCE OF CONVICTS.

remained an intriguing enigma for

Grenville.

What was she really like?

An old tin box recently discovered during renovations at historic Elizabeth Farm, containing long-hidden memoirs, partly reveal the woman behind the public facade.

Grenville has “edited” the discoloured old papers in the box, using her imagination where the faded ink was

indecipherable, to bring Elizabeth to life.

A Room Made of Leaves was conceived as the shockingly frank secret memoir that Elizabeth might have written.

Grenville’s story achieves a remarkable balance between the real and the invented.

Here is history turned inside out. In truth, Elizabeth managed the wool industry in her husband’s many absences in England, running their farm and managing a workforce of convicts.

The ruthless John Macarthur, dubbed a firebrand by historians, is here revealed as a haughty, insensitive, violent, brutal man and husband, leaving Elizabeth to go nowhere beyond “wifedom”.

Embellishing on her scant memoirs, Elizabeth emerges as a real heroine, transcending her wifely role in Grenville’s impassioned tale of a feisty, resourceful lady.

Kate Grenville brings immediacy and vibrancy to this fascinating woman.