There is some information about the timeline of the Matilda books in the back, A Waltz For Matilda (1894-1915), A Rose for the Anzac Boys (1915-1920) and this one (1919-1926), there will be another three books to come covering the years 1932-1972, with the last book being set in 1969-72, where we will meet again the wounded Vietnam veteran, Nicholas, who Flinty meets on the rock in this story.

This is a stunning saga that takes us through a time in a young woman's life when she is learning and yet teaching others around her - as was this country.This book is absolutely a stand alone novel, in fact I didn't know there was a 'Matilda Saga' until I read the blurb for this one. The brutal ways in which people lived, the battles they fought to win the rights we now enjoy, and the shaping of our nation, are things we all need to know. More than that - the early days of our country are so important for Australians to learn about. She must learn who to trust and, more importantly, who not to trust, in a world that wants to take advantage of her supposed vulnerable state.įrench has used her passion for Australian history to create an authentic world that is so interesting to know more about. Matilda, with help from surprising sources, learns to live from the land and become an independent, self-sufficient woman in a time when such a thing was far from the accepted norm. The years ahead are a combination of survival, love, hardship, heartbreak, and finding herself as a young woman. And, just like that, Matilda is devoted to this wide, brown land. Her father is not what she expected, certainly not the man of her mother's romantic stories - yet the two find a bond. Instead of giving in to the life everyone thinks she is destined for, a life of virtual slavery and bare survival, she runs away to find the father she has never met. This is the story of one young girl, Matilda, who is left alone when her mother dies.

Moving into the twentieth century was an intriguing time for Australia - a world so different from the one we now live in, and one that Jackie French immerses us in completely. It was a land where anything went men could be forced to work long hours for the bare minimum, children could be taken from school and forced to work, and racism did not exist - people being treated not just differently, but inhumanely, was simply a fact of life. Not yet one nation, Australia was merely a number of states sitting side by side.

A time of drought, of establishing life in this new country, a time of great change.

A waltz for matilda series