mammybearsbooks Blog Mary_Grant_Bruce 20200112

Mammy Bears Books 12 January · My first post for the New Year is about the Iconic Australian writer Mary Grant Bruce (1878-1958) {Maurice Saxby is quoted as saying "what Ethel Turner did for the city family, Mary Grant Bruce did for the bush family".} Her series of adventures of the Linton family on Billabong station in Victoria are noted for the championing of what Bruce held up as the quintessentially Australian Bush values; this being independence, hard work by everyone - men, women and children, bush hospitality and celebrating the art of yarning (telling a good tale). Her famous "Billabong" series spanned quite a period of time, from 1910 'A Little Bush Maid' to 1942 'Billabong Riders'. In 1915 she wrote 'Jim and Wally' which contains one of the first accounts of Australian soldiers facing gas attacks on the Western Front. The Billabong series is still in print but it must be noted that some early editions have been edited to remove controversial material.