The Famine Orphans
In 1848, sixteen-year-old Kate Gilvarry is one of a group of young Irish women considered for the Earl Grey Emigration Scheme created by the British Government to help female famine victims in Irish workhouses find work as domestic servants or husbands in Australia. This is a huge leap of faith for many of the girls, most of them full of fear and trepidation at what lies ahead. On board the ship Sabine, Kate makes good friends but clashes with others. She also becomes romantically attached to the ship’s doctor, Nathaniel Harte, but both feel their relationship has no future.
On their arrival in Sydney, the orphans find that life is not as rosy as the Scheme suggested. The local population has turned against them, a result of anti-Irish bigotry. Kate manages to gain employment in a wealthy family but her temper causes problems when she attempts to stand up for the others. Although she still pines for Nathaniel, she marries Luke, a former convict, and embarks on a tough farming life near Bathurst on the western plains. Later, she will be swept up in the gold rush at Ophir and come to finally accept her new life in a new land.
While most of the Australian detail is rich and thorough, some historical errors have slipped through, e.g., there were no sheep stations as early as the 1850s in the unexplored Northern Territory (only named as such in the 20th century). Otherwise, this is a highly entertaining novel with colorful and likeable characters, and presents a sympathetic retelling of Australia’s Irish emigrant experience.
