In 1894, twelve-year-old Matilda flees the city slums to find her unknown father and his farm. But drought grips the land, and the shearers are on strike. Her father has turned swaggie and he's wanted by the troopers. In front of his terrified daughter, he makes a stand against them, defiant to the last. "You'll never catch me alive, said he..." Set against a backdrop of bushfire, flood, war and jubilation, this is the story of one girl's journey towards independence. It is also the story of others who had no vote and very little but their dreams. Drawing on the well-known poem by A.B. Paterson and from events rooted in actual history, this is the untold story behind Australia's early years as an emerging nation.
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This novel opens in 1894, when Matilda O'Halloran is living in a city slum with her mother. When her mother dies, Matilda leaves the city to find her father and his farm. Matilda finds her father, but then loses him in circumstances just like the song:
`Up jumped the swagman and sprang into that billabong,
`You'll never take me alive' said he...'
And so, Matilda is on her own. And despite the best advice of the neighbours, including the rich landowner Mr Drinkwater who was part of the billabong fiasco, Matilda is determined to stay on her father's farm. With the help of an old aboriginal woman, Auntie Love, and the support of others Matilda manages to make a go of it.
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