Review: In a Great Southern Land

Title:  In a Great Southern Land

Author: Mary-Anne O'Connor

Publisher: 18th March 2019 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

From the soft green hills of Ireland to the wild Shipwreck Coast of southern Victoria, the rich farm lands of New South Wales to the sudden battlefields of Ballarat, this is an epic story of the cost of freedom and the value of love in a far-flung corner of the world where a new nation struggles to be born. 1851: After the death of her father, young Eve Richards is destitute. Her struggle to survive sees her deported in chains to the colony of New South Wales, penniless and alone. But here in this strange new world fortune smiles on the spirited, clever Eve in the shape of a respectable job offer that will lead to a quiet, secure life. Then the fiery and charismatic Irishman Kieran Clancy crosses her path...

For Kieran Clancy, the kindest man on earth, and his brother Liam, the promise of free passage and land in this brave new world is a chance to leave the grief and starvation of County Clare behind. But while Liam works to farm their land, Kieran has the fire of gold-fever upon him and is drawn to the goldfields of Ballarat. As tensions grow on the goldfields, and with the blood of an Irish rebel still beating through his heart, Kieran finds himself caught up in the cataclysmic events at the Eureka Stockade and faces the decision of a lifetime: whether or not, when it comes to love, blood will remain thicker than water...

My Thoughts

‘The great southern land,’ Liam said, looking at him, then laughing at his own incredible words. ‘I’m still trying to believe it.’

This is a really great story that I thoroughly enjoyed - quite the saga with both lead characters starting out in Ireland and then ending up in Australia. Firstly there is Kieran, a poor tenant farmer, who (with his family) gains free passage to the Australian colonies to farm. Then there is Eve, a servant, charged with a crime she did not commit and sent to the colonies on a convict ship. This is their story, inclusive of the challenges they faced from firstly, their time in Ireland, to adjusting to life in the colonies.

Firstly this book is a love story with a fair amount of Irish luck involved with coincidences. Still, if you enjoy historical fiction of this era, then you will revel in the times and circumstances. While some meetings were difficult to believe, you let it go as there is just so much to love about so many of these characters. There is a breadth and depth to the people you will meet and it adds a real richness to the story with a few good twists towards the end.

Secondly, this book incorporates a range of places and events highlighting many significant occurrences from history. From the harsh life in Ireland, to being onboard a convict ship, resettlement and farming in the colonies, life on the goldfields in the 1850s culminating in the momentous Eureka Stockade. I felt Mary-Anne’s retelling of key events in colonial history to be highly engaging, bringing to life what it would have been like in a wide range of scenarios.  Her research and in depth presentation of the Eureka battle, especially the consequent fallout, was a certain highlight.

Finally, if you delve deeper and take into account the detail Mary-Anne has gone into, this is a tale of injustices and the fight for equality and rights. Through the story of key individuals, you are shown what it was like to love, to lose, to fight, to win, in a search for a new beginning and true love. The desire to leave behind the controlling gentry in an effort to forge freedoms in an new land.

I was thoroughly impressed and absorbed in this high quality historical drama - the story is rich and filled with emotions, all tied together with factual accounts of major historical events related to Australia’s colonial history. I highly recommend this book.

‘We’ve crossed one to be here, don’t forget,’ he said more softly now, taking her hands again, ‘for different reasons and from different worlds, but somehow we’re standing under the same sky.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release