One family traced from the 1860s to the 1980s, beginning with Cornelius Laffey, an Irish-born journalist. Wresting his kin from the easy living of nineteenth-century Sydney, he takes them to northern Queensland where thousands of hopefuls are digging for gold in the mud. The family confronts the horror of aboriginal dispossession, and Cornelius is sacked for reporting the slaughter. The cycles of generations turn, one over the other. Only some things change. That world and this world both have their Catholic priests, their bigots, their radicals. Winner of the inaugural Steele Rudd Award.

Actress Jan Friedl's Australian accent perfectly seasons this family saga set in Australia's northern Queensland gold fields. It's a family saga with a difference, tracing Aboriginal dispossession from the 1860s to the 1980s. Friedl conveys the story's scene shifts and multitude of characters expertly. A quibble: Having Friedl read the family tree at the beginning of the tape only made this listener wish for a copy of the book--too many names! Family sagas require work from listeners, but a good story makes the effort worthwhile. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

 

"Actress Jan Friedl's Australian accent perfectly seasons this family saga set in Australia's northern Queensland gold fields. It's a family saga with a difference, tracing Aboriginal dispossession from the 1860s to the 1980s. Friedl conveys the story's scene shifts and multitude of characters expertly."

 

Thea Astley was one of Australia's most respected and acclaimed novelists. She won the Miles Franklin Award four times - in 1962 for The Well Dressed Explorer, in 1965 for The Slow Natives, in 1972 for The Acolyte and in 2000 for Drylands. In 1989 she was award the Patrick White Award. Other awards include 1975 The Age Book of the Year Award for A Kindness Cup, the 1980 James Cook Foundation of Australian Literature Studies Award for Hunting the Wild Pineapple, the 1986 ALS Gold Medal for Beachmasters, the 1988 Steele Rudd Award for It's Raining in Mango, the 1990 NSW Premier's Prize for Reaching Tin River, and the 1996 Age Book of the Year Award and the FAW Australian Unity Award for The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow.

Born in Brisbane in 1925, Thea Astley studied arts at the University of Queensland. She held a position as Fellow in Australian Literature at Macquarie University until 1980, when she retired to write full time. In 1989 she was granted an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Queensland.

It's Raining In Mango by Thea Astley
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