Lady Bird and the Fox
Lady Bird and the Fox is Australian author, Kim Kelly’s seventh historical fiction novel. Kelly tells stories set in Australia’s past about ordinary people forced to navigate the violence, class and gender bigotry of the times. Whilst her previous novels are set in the early 20th century, this is Kelly’s first novel about the mid-19th-century gold rush and bushranger (highwaymen) era.
The story is written as a first-person narrative of two separate protagonists from different social situations, thrown together on a desperate journey. Annie Bird is the daughter of an ex-convict father and aboriginal mother, who becomes a homeless orphan, cast out by a prejudiced and corrupt landlady. Her only plan is to try to find her maternal grandfather, someone she’s never met and knows virtually nothing about.
Jeremy (Jem) Fox is the son of a successful Jewish silversmith. Jem’s father banishes him from Sydney to country New South Wales, in a desperate attempt to break his gambling and womanizing habits. These two unlikely companions are forced together in a series of dramatic events that find them on the wrong side of both the law and some vengeful, dangerous characters.
Kelly has written an exciting, fast-paced novel. Her research into the time and locations is meticulous. However, it’s in the multi-dimensional characterization of Annie and Jem that Lady Bird and the Fox excels. Annie is a headstrong, determined young woman straddling two cultures, class and gender restrictions. Jem is a spoiled brat from the privileged class, but his empathy for Annie’s situation and determination to help her with minimal encouragement, shows real strength of character.
Lady Bird and the Fox is a delightfully readable, coming-of-age adventure novel with some strong social insights.
