Australia – Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft
Novel set in 1940s Queensland
If you are after an atmopsheric novel with a heartbreaking and fascinating journey to match, then Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft should be on your list.
This novel sees a woman and an orphan child sail from England to Australia in the search for his family. She has only known the child for a short while yet she will stay in Australia whilst he settles in. Trouble is, when they get to rural Queesland, they are not expected nor are they welcome….
The Book Trail Under The Golden Sun
Boarding Pass Information : Under the Golden Sun
Destination : a cattle ranch in rural Queensland
Author guide: Jenny Ashcroft
Genre: fiction with a romance
Food and drink to accompany: Steak and a good warm cup of broth
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BookTrail the locations in Under the Golden Sun
What a fascinating and well-told story. I love novels where you iterarlly follow in the footsteps in the characters. In Jenny’s book I started my journey on a ship from Liverpool with Rose and Walter. Rose is accompanying Walter who is a small child being sent to the family he has never met, in Australia. His only guardian in England is now dead and he is an orphan. Kind-hearted Rose applies for the job to go with him but he soon becomes attached. She discovers that his guardian has not exactly been truthful and once they arrive, there is no one there to greet them. They are forced to sleep in a barn close to the house and suspect someone is watching them from the family home. My heart was already breaking for Walter at this point!
The mystery of what is going on and how things will turn out is highly tuned from the start. Walter and Rose are real, living, breathing characters and there’s a whole new cast to get to know in Australia too. Rose and Walter find out about this new family at the same time and as a reader, that really made me feel I was discovering them in the same way as them. I felt like another Rose, concerned for Walter and suspicious of his family.
BookTrail the locations in Under the Golden Sun
The family are strange people but each one is set under the spot light at different times, Just what is the truth? Max is the boy’s uncle and works on the ranch. His growing relationship with Rose showed a new layer to him and a higher level of intrigue too. Poor Rose had a lot to sort out and a lot to worry about. On top of this family drama is the fact that war is raging around the world. Australia’s role in WW2 is not one you often read about. Here, it’s the background and the story itself and it was really interesting to see how a small rural community suffered because of it.
The way Walter is treated as he is an Aboriginal child was truly heartbreaking to read about. How can you neglect or disown a child because of their parentage? The author has clearly done some very careful research and it was humbling to learn. Poor Walter! I wanted to give him a hug.
Rose and her budding romance really added an extra layer of interest for me. This was very nicely done and felt very real and a nice addition to the cruelty unravelling outside.
The setting, a remote cnattle ranch in Queensland is felt via every grain of sand, dirt, sunbeam and earthenware pot in the baking sun. The atmosphere and the landscape really is breathtakingly crafted on the page. This author conjures up settings with a pen like no one else and this makes the book highly recommended by me!
BookTrail the locations in Under the Golden Sun
Postcard details: Access The BookTrail’s Map of Locations and travel guide here
More books set in Australia
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Under the Golden Sun
Twitter: @Jenny_Ashcroft
