Adventure, romance and history combine in this thrilling 19th century journey through the South Australian bush and along the mighty Murray River in the company of a determined heroine. 1895, Renmark, South AustraliaMaggie O’Rourke has always had a hard head. No man was going to tie her down to a life of babies and domestic slavery, even if that man was as good (and as annoyingly attractive) as … annoyingly attractive) as Sam Taylor. Maggie is happily earning her own way as a maid in a house on the Murray River when disaster strikes.
Forced to defend herself and a friend from assault by an evil man, she flees downriver on a paddle steamer. With death at her heels, Maggie begins to realise that a man like Sam might be just who she wants in her hour of need. As for Sam, well, Maggie has always been what he wants.
The further Maggie runs, the more she discovers there are some things she cannot escape…
PRAISE FOR DARRY FRASER
‘Outstanding prose that flows and ripples through every page.’- Starts at 60
‘Darry has done a fabulous job with some wonderful storytelling and puts herself right up there with the best.’ – Green Reads and Tea Leaves
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Many thanks to Harlequin Mira for the opportunity to read and review The Good Woman of Renmark by Darry Fraser.
Having read Fraser’s other works I couldn’t wait to read her latest offering, and as with all her previous books I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Continuing with her Murray river theme, this novel is set in the late 1800’s in Renmark where Maggie O’Rourke has moved to escape the expected bonds, as she perceives them, of marriage, children and no independence.
When Maggie thwacks the evil Robert Boyd in the head with an iron rod to stop him raping her friend Nara they are both forced to run away. After all, who will believe their story that this upright man of the community had attacked them.
Knowing she had to get away Maggie seeks passage on one of the River Paddle Steamers that ply trade up and down the Mighty Murray River, giving her name when asked as Ellie Lorcan.
Meanwhile back in Echuca on the O’Rourke property Maggie’s father Lorcan O’Rourke has taken a fall from a tree, breaking his leg, an injury which in those days could be a death sentence. As he wavers between life and death, a letter is received from Maggie’s employer advising that having caused a serious assault upon Robert Boyd’s person, Maggie has fled, her whereabouts unknown.
In desperation Eleanor O’Rourke, Maggie’s mother, pleads with Maggie’s ex love Sam to search for Maggie and bring her home.
And so begins a race to find Maggie, for Sam is not the only person seeking to find her. Robert Boyd is not in fact dead as Maggie believes but intent on tracking her down and seeking his revenge. While at the same time Robert’s brother Angus is searching for his missing love Adeline, convinced that Robert has had something to do with her disappearance he seeks to find out what has happened to her, and then take his revenge on Robert.
As with all of Fraser’s books, this story will stand alone, but if you are familiar with her other works you will pick up the gently dropped names that tie the characters from this book to those from her earlier works.
A special note must be made of Bucky, the Murray River Curly Coated Retriever, a distinctly Australian breed of dog. Bucky’s amazing loyalty as shown within the story is indicative of the breed and Fraser’s portrayal of him in this book is a testament to the dog on which he is based.
Highly recommended to all lovers of good Australian Historical Fiction and romance, I give it four stars.
*3.5 Stars*
Copy kindly received from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review.
It took me a little while for me to get into this one. I was probably about half way through before things really started to pick up for me. The story is told through multiple POV’s, but the most prominent one is Maggie O’Rourke.
The time is the late 1800’s, before women had the vote and the suffragette movement was beginning to grow. Maggie was a strong character who knew that she wanted to be independent and be able to live her life the way she wanted, and not the way she was expected to.
She gets into a tussle with a horrible man, Robert, where she is working one day, and set off on the run after that. Now, Robert, this character was loathsome. I HATED him, and eventually his wife and brother as well. These were the kind of characters that show the things truly wrong with the world. But back in the era that this book is set in, crimes such as Robert committed, weren’t believed, or cared about as much as they are today.
We also have other characters such as Sam and Bucky, who I really liked. And Jane from Lyrup, and Nara and Wadgie from Renmark as well.
With so much going on in this book, it really highlights how much things have changed since the era that the novel is set in. The Murray River plays a huge part of this story, and the ways that people lived on the land.
In the end, I thought things played out nicely, although I wish that Sam and Maggie had more communication. Everyone got what they deserved, and I was quite happy with how it all played out.