FREEMAN, Pamela Mary’s Australia: How Mary MacKillop Changed Australia Black Dog (Our Stories), 32pp 2014 $17.95 pbk ISBN 9781922077905 SCIS 1661387
Pamela Freeman has taken an interesting approach to presenting Australian history during the lifetime of Mary MacKillop. Fourteen significant dates in the history are selected and listed in the contents. For each of these years, for example 1842, the pages contain firstly an overview of events and conditions at that time. This is followed by the story of Mary at that stage, succeeded by a survey of life in Australia at that point. While Mary’s remarkable biography is developed, the changing face of Australian colonies, up to a few years after Federation, is also presented.
Her youthful experience teaching children in the bush showed Mary the great need for more educational opportunities for rural children. It became her goal to provide that education. Social, political, religious, and economic conditions made it a huge task. This book succeeds in showing how the life and work of Mary MacKillop was inextricably connected to the issues that affected everyone living in Australia during the second half of nineteenth century.
The succinctly told history is accompanied by well placed contemporary art works and photographs which effectively develop authenticity and visual interest. A brief glossary and index appear on the last page. Although the material is pitched to inform upper primary readers, it offers an excellent social history for all general interest readers.
reviewed by Elspeth Cameron