- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan (Aug 22 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0333485548
- ISBN-13: 978-0333485545
- Shipping Weight: 549 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This opulent, slightly overdone epic chronicles Australia, grand and still untamed, in a time of tremendous growth. Recently orphaned Joanna Drury sails to Melbourne from England in 1871, intending to ferret out the secrets that killed her mother, Lady Emily, who dreamed of serpents and wild dogs and died mysteriously suffering from symptoms similar to rabies. Joanna has inherited her mother's dreams and, she fears,her fate. The cause of her mother's elusive malady, she believes, lies in Lady Emily's childhood in Australia. But soon after landing, the lonely and beautiful Joanna falls in love and marries handsome Hugh Westbrook. They settle into a loving, though not always peaceful life on Hugh's rapidly growing sheep station and raise two children, Adam and Beth. But bad luck and frightening thoughts continue to haunt Joanna, and her search for Karra Karra, a place somewhere in the outback, which the dying Lady Emily directed her to find, leads Joanna and 12-year-old Beth into a dangerous part of Australia where few whites have gone before. While tales of the aborigines' intriguing culture add a particular and welcome atmosphere to this romantic saga, the enigmatic mysticism central to the plot prevents the reader from becoming totally absorbed in Joanna's plight.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"A great summer book. It has everything—good characters, love, adventure, mystery and mysticism." —Los Angeles Daily News
“Superb storytelling . . . a page turner.” —San Francisco Chronicle
"Magnificent . . . everything a historical novel should be: big, bold, with larger-than-life characters chasing their dreams, and demons with equal fervor. The Dreaming has all that and more." —Orange Coast Magazine
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good, strong romantic epic,
By Martha E. Nelson (Watertown, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dreaming: A Novel of Australia (Hardcover)
This is a good, solid historical romance. I read another review that commented on this also being an anthropological novel, and I think that is also certainly true. The reader does become immersed in the myths, dream life, and very sad developments of the life of aborigines.The characters are interesting and strong, and one of the real strengths of this for me was that the characters grow and develop and learn from their experiences. There are no present day villains here--just humans who learna s they go along, and I thought that was particularly nice. There is a strong sense of the landscape and history of Australia here. Barbara Wood's plot also holds together well and comes to a strong resolution. Generally, this was a very satisfying book. I am reminded of novels by M. M. Kaye, another novelist who blends history and fiction in marvelous ways.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rich, page turning book that I read twice and plan on reading again,
By Frances (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dreaming: A Novel of Australia (Hardcover)
It is a spell binding book that binds historical facts with a spiritual element. It draws you into the book and makes you feel as if you are living it with the characters. I seriously plan on reading this book again along with her book Green City in the Sun. These are two of my favorite books of hers, though the others that I have read are good too. I am definitely drawn to them.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A SPELLBINDING WORK OF HISTORICAL FICTION...,
By
This review is from: The Dreaming: A Novel of Australia (Hardcover)
This is a novel with a panoramic sweep, taking place in nineteenth century Australia. The author, an accomplished storyteller, weaves a spellbinding story about a young woman who goes to Australia upon the death of her parents in order to unravel a mystery that haunted her mother and drove her into an early grave.In Australia, she finds much happiness when she falls in love with the owner of a prosperous sheep station, but the years go by, the mystery ever present and on her mind. She takes great pains to unravel it, and in the process learns much about herself. It is not, however, until she is overtaken by the forces of nature and a new path opens for her that she is able to unravel the mystery that compelled her to go to Australia. The book is rich in its imagery and descriptions of life on a sheep station in nineteenth century Australia. It is replete with period detail. Moreover, the description of the culture and plight of the Aborigines makes for interesting reading. This book is everything that a historical novel should be, as it is both entertaining and informative. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, disappointed only in the too abrupt ending that left some issues unresolved. Still, this is definitely a book to be savored. Those readers that are fond of the historical fiction genre will definitely find it worth reading.
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