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Rush Oh! (Shirley Barrett, Picador)

Screenwriter and director Shirley Barrett has mixed fact and fiction to tell the story of the whaling community of Eden in New South Wales in the early years of the 20th century. The narrator of Rush Oh! is Mary Davidson, eldest daughter of George ‘Fearless’ Davidson, a third-generation Master Whaler who runs two boats in the whaling season. Mary has her own dreams. She is also attracting the attention of men, in particular a new ‘chum’, a former Methodist preacher with a mysterious past. She describes the hardships facing the whalers, who row in open boats for hours, in all weathers, in pursuit of their prey. George’s territory is Twofold Bay, which is also home to a pod of Killer whales, who help the men to capture the larger whales by confining each whale in the bay until the hunters arrive. The Killers were so well known that many were given names (the most famous, Tom, helped the whalers for over 60 years; his skeleton is on display in the Eden Killer Whale Museum). The harsh life of the whalers and their struggle for survival in the difficult season of 1908 is recounted with great feeling and respect, and will resonate with readers of Australian history.

Chris Harrington is the co-owner of Books in Print in Melbourne

 

Category: Reviews