#BookReview ‘A Room Made Of Leaves’ by Kate Grenville

About the book…

What if Elizabeth Macarthur-wife of the notorious John Macarthur, wool baron in early Sydney-had written a shockingly frank secret memoir?

In her introduction Kate Grenville tells, tongue firmly in cheek, of discovering a long-hidden box containing that memoir. What follows is a playful dance of possibilities between the real and the invented.

Grenville’s Elizabeth Macarthur is a passionate woman managing her complicated life-marriage to a ruthless bully, the impulses of her own heart, the search for power in a society that gave her none-with spirit, cunning and sly wit.

Her memoir reveals the dark underbelly of the polite world of Jane Austen. It explodes the stereotype of the women of the past- devoted and docile, accepting of their narrow choices. That was their public face-here’s what one of them really thought.

At the heart of this book is one of the most toxic issues of our times- the seductive appeal of false stories. Beneath the surface of Elizabeth Macarthur’s life and the violent colonial world she navigated are secrets and lies with the dangerous power to shape reality.

A Room Made of Leaves is the internationally acclaimed author Kate Grenville’s first novel in almost a decade. It is historical fiction turned inside out, a stunning sleight of hand that gives the past the piercing immediacy of the present.

Enormous thanks to the ever wonderful team at Lovereading UK for inviting me to read the newest novel by Kate Grenville, ‘A Room Made Of Leaves’,available via their site, published by Canongate on 6th August in glorious hardcover.

”I became someone not totally removed from herself,but not quite herself either.Someone more obliging,more agreeable.Someone who folded herself up small and put herself carefully away,where no one could see her.”

Described as literary fiction based on found letters , which aims to overturn the popular viewpoint that Elizabeth Macarthur was merely an adjunct to her notorious husband, it feels as if opening this book will open a box of treasures.

This is the type of book which sweeps you away-Elizabeth Veale, regarded by her mother as a ‘wilful girl’, spends the early part of her life abandoned by those close to her courtesy of disease, death and re-marriage.

Her father and sister have died, her mother abandons her to her grandfather’s care after marrying, Elizabeth finds a close companionship with cousin Bridie and learns the ways of a farm, including, most importantly, sheep rearing.

A breath taking momentary connection with the young John leads to an indiscretion behind a hedge and a resulting young woman in trouble. As she tries to rid herself of the baby inside her, the reader gets the impression that she is trying to shake off the pre-determined future ascribed to ‘women in trouble’.

”He was that foreign creature,a man,who spoke the foreign language of power and assurance,but we came from the same country,where a person had to appear to be someone other than who they were.”

Alas she remains with child and the rest of her life is laid out for her- in stark contrast to the passionate women who grabs life with both hands, she becomes Elizabeth Macarthur, sent with her husband to a land of opportunities. She refers to her New South Wales destination as an oubliette ,one of the farthest reaches of the earth where again she is dismissed from life.

Here she battles to retain any sense of self in the midst of her husband’s growing reputation as untrustworthy-duelling pistols at dawn and playing a long game with their futures becomes a common trend. Elizabeth quickly realises that if she is to make any kind of life worth living, she has to be cleverer than her husband and also make him think her ideas are his in order to survive.

The land that they are given quickly thrives under Elizabeth’s tutelage, her ideas on sheep rearing and the selling of wool, once dismissed by John becomes their main source of income. Against a backdrop of childbirth, child loss, and creating a life in this new land, Elizabeth emerges as victorious.

The title, ‘A Room Made Of Leaves’,refers to the secluded space where Elizabeth meets Mr Dawes, a man who quickly becomes very important to her as he teaches her astronomy and botany. She learns from him how to communicate with and respect the indigenous people of the land which has been granted to her and John, but belongs to neither.

Her passion re-kindled, this haven becomes the place where her true self is allowed to flourish, a contrast between the seemingly insubstantial nature of leaves and the strength of character that Elizabeth develops.

A sweeping, moving novel which brings to life a period of history where women were seen as no more than adjacent to the men in their life, it is Elizabeth’s wilful nature which has the family succeeding against all odds.Her personal history is remembered in connection with her husband, in a series of letters that do not convey any of the feelings in her heart. The leaves of this book stand as a bound testament to a fascinating woman ,with suggestions for further reading at its conclusion.

About the author…

Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s best-known authors. She’s published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller ‘The Secret River’, ‘The Idea Of Perfection’, ‘The Lieutenant’ and ‘Lilian’s Story’ . Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.