Something New

 We feature each fortnight Nicholas Reid's reviews and comments on new and recent books.      

           “A FAR-FLUNG LIFE” by  M.L STEDMAN (Penguin, $NZ38:00)

M. L. Stedman  [Margo Stedman] is an Australian born and raised in West Australia, but has also spent much of her life in England. Apparently, according to one source, she is “totally reticent sharing personal information”. She made a hit with her first novel The Light Between Oceans, which I have not read. Now comes A Far-Flung Life, the title referring to both the distance between farms in the arid part of West Australia and the fact that many people in the story come from different parts of Australia… and some Pommies. Before I get into giving you some sort of synopsis of the tale, I have to make it clear that I am not in any way a snob. I can enjoy a good yarn as much as any reader. I say this because Stedman’s novel is in no way a “masterpiece” [a term constantly abused by promoters of bad movies and novels], but it is very readable and is bound to win a large readership, flaws and all. So here we go.

The MacBride family have lived on a remote sheep station for years – a million acres of dry, harsh ground, average rain per year eight inches.  In January 1958 there is a disaster. Dad [Phil] and sons Warren and Matthew are in a car crash. Dad and Warren die. Matthew [usually called Matt] survives, but he is so badly injured that he has to stay in hospital for months and he has lost much of his ability to remember things. So mother Lorna is left to look after the station, sometimes helped by “Peachey” Pete and Maudy and other friends. Matt returns to the station and being ready to help. Lorna has one daughter, Rose. She is a bit of a tearaway but she straightens-up and helps her mother. And then along comes a dashing English man from a wealthy aristocratic family, Miles Beaumont. Of course Rose falls in love with him, but her romance doesn’t get anywhere. So Rose leaves the station and gets work in Perth. She becomes pregnant. Who was the father? We are not told. She goes back to mother and Matt; and she has her baby. Old Pete Peachy, a dinkum Aussie bloke, helps her to look after the baby. Rose and Lorna think of adopting the baby out, but they change their mind. Alas, Rose becomes depressed. With her infant child , she walks down into a mining pit, fall over, smashes her head and dies. The infant survives. Was it an accident or did she intend suicide? Who knows. The child is called Andy. So we now have a family of Lorna, damaged Matt, and little Andy…

The years go by. We are now well into the 1960’s. There are two big problems. First there is the fact that Australia now needs minerals more than it needs sheep. With the approval of the government, companies are allowed to dig into pits on land that was once used by the pastoralists [i. e. farmers]. Wool is no longer king and for some farmers it is hard times. The MacBride family struggle, even if Matt is now mainly in good health. Second, there is the problem of young Andy. He is an alert kid, and he is interested in family trees… and although he has been told that his mother [Rose] has died, he wants to know who his father was. Matt and ageing Lorna try to dodge the issue.  And it is at this point that we are introduced to Bonny Edquist. She is an alert young woman, with university training, who is a   geologist and has come to find valuable minerals. At first there is animosity between Matt and Bonny, but they gradually get to like each other. And Bonny really likes young Andy and more-or-less becomes his best friend.

And, dear reader, you may think that I have given away the whole plot of this novel. Not true, because [as I have often said] I never give away the endings of new novels. I have given you only the first half of the story. A Far-Flung Life is fully 436 pages long and it moves the characters through to the point where Andy is an adult and more characters are introduced, with the likes of the thoughtful police officer, and the band of local thugs who beat up a queer man, and the women who tut-tut about women who get pregnant outside marriage and many others. And yes, eventually we do learn who impregnated Rose.

At the very least, I can say that much of A Far-Flung Life is credible. M. L. Stedman is at her very best in telling us about how farming stations worked and how things changed in Australia once minerals became more important. She has obviously done a great deal of research. The family’s troubles are also credible, including the way the adults try to shield little Andy from knowing what happened to Rose. On the other hand, the character of Bonny Edquist is too good to be true, almost saintly in the way she deals with young Andy. Sorry to say this, but much of this sounds too neat, too sweet, and not like reality… though in fairness the novel ends with an unexpected twist. I enjoyed some of this novel but gradually tired of it as it moved along There seemed to be too much padding. But who am I to give you this negative verdict? A large audience will enjoy it and doubtless it will become a best-seller. Good luck to them.

                                                              M. L. Stedman