Restless Dolly Maunder, by Kate Grenville

​A novelised account of Kate Grenville's grandmother's life.

Born in the early 1880s in rural New South Wales, Sarah Catherine (Dolly) Maunder was never going to have many career options. In those days when women married, their fate depended on the quality of their husbands  . Dolly wants to teach, one of the few pathways to independence for a woman, but her stern, cheerless father forbids it. Instead Dolly marries Bert Russell, a friend of the family from childhood. It's a loveless match, even though Bert is handsome and a decent enough chap. The couple have three children, but Dolly isn't really suited to motherhood. And she loathes farming. She spurs Bert to set up various businesses – shops and pubs – that turn into roaring successes. Despite Dolly having all the get-go to take risks and get ahead, being a woman means she has no money in her own name.

Celebrated Australian author Kate Grenville has turned the life of her grandmother into a novelised account of what it is to be a woman in late 19th and early 20th century Australia. It's a tough life, with hard won successes and much heartbreak. A gritty portrait of early Australia, with subtly woven in feminist themes.

Restless Dolly Maunder, by Kate Grenville. Published by Text. $45

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