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5th out of 6 books
—
7 voters
The Golden Day
by
Ursula Dubosarsky (Goodreads Author)
There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family. Because it was such a very small class, they had a very small classroom, perched at the very top of the school - up four flights of stairs, up in the high sky, like a colony of little birds nesting on a cliff.
'Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens...more
'Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens...more
Paperback, 152 pages
Published
2011
by Allen & Unwin
Win a Copy of This Book
The Golden Day
by Ursula Dubosarsky (Goodreads Author)
by Ursula Dubosarsky (Goodreads Author)
Release
date: Aug 06, 2013
Fans of the book/film Picnic at Hanging Rock are sure to enjoy this!
When their teacher goes missing during an outing, eleven girls grapple with the af…more
When their teacher goes missing during an outing, eleven girls grapple with the af…more
Giveaway dates:
Jun 13
- Jul 07, 2013
4 copies
available,
216 people
requesting
Countries available:
US and CA
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There is a lot to love about this book. Eleven girls and their teacher begin regularly meeting the enigmatic poet Morgan in the gardens. They talk about life, death, poetry, and the world around them. When their teacher fails to come back from one of their walks with Morgan the girls find themselves sinking deeper into a mystery while trying to understand the times they live in.
Dubosarsky creates a dark mood that can only be compared to something like Picnic at Hanging Rock. The tone throughout...more
Dubosarsky creates a dark mood that can only be compared to something like Picnic at Hanging Rock. The tone throughout...more
Read this at 3am in a fever with a sick baby in my arms, which may be the perfect conditions for steeping in this strange haunting tale. I love Dubosarsky's Sydney, the way that looking at the city from the water gives you a different perspective, as though you are momentarily stepping outside of time and space. I found Cubby extremely identifiable. To me this novel is about the things that happen to you as a child that you never quite believe in, and how you take the child that you were (and al...more
Ambiguity can be incredibly creepy.
And it’s this absence of firm answers, the subtle power of suggestion, that makes The Golden Day such an unsettling, evocative read.
This slim novel succeeds as a sort of urban rendering of Picnic At Hanging Rock (let’s all just forget about Chapter 18, okay? It’s better this way, trust me), if mostly due to Dubosarksy’s elegant and assured writing.
Opening in Sydney in 1967, The Golden Day is about eleven schoolgirls and their teacher who go to the Gardens to...more
And it’s this absence of firm answers, the subtle power of suggestion, that makes The Golden Day such an unsettling, evocative read.
This slim novel succeeds as a sort of urban rendering of Picnic At Hanging Rock (let’s all just forget about Chapter 18, okay? It’s better this way, trust me), if mostly due to Dubosarksy’s elegant and assured writing.
Opening in Sydney in 1967, The Golden Day is about eleven schoolgirls and their teacher who go to the Gardens to...more
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The Vietnam War rages overseas, but within the confines of a girl’s school in Sydney, a classroom of eleven girls are listening as their teacher, Miss Renshaw talks to them of death and hanging, injustice and the need to be open-minded.
The eleven little girls, in their matching ginghams and straw hats, take Miss Renshaw’s words very seriously. And when Miss Renshaw asks them not to tell their parents or other teachers about Morgan, the little girls are determined to keep their teacher’s secret;...more
The eleven little girls, in their matching ginghams and straw hats, take Miss Renshaw’s words very seriously. And when Miss Renshaw asks them not to tell their parents or other teachers about Morgan, the little girls are determined to keep their teacher’s secret;...more
2 likes · like · see review
May 27, 2011
Ms Tlaskal
added it
Having taught at SCEGGS for 5 years and even using the classroom 'at the top of the tower' where the 11 little girls do their lessons, and having loved 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' this novel was a treat. Very dark despite the seaside school setting it is about this class of girls who lose their teacher on an impromptu excursion. Their teacher took them to the Botanic Gardens to 'write poems'; which makes me think how many forms are required for us to take students out anywhere these days. yet SCEGG...more
After you read this book you should read 'Picnic from Hanging Rock' or view the movie of the same name. Both books and the movie are about a group of girls going off on an excursion with their teacher - however, not everyone makes it home.
This book in set in the sixties seventies in Sydney. Schools (and teachers) were very different then - students were not very different, however. They wanted to know about their teachers, they gossiped and talked a lot and they tried to get away with as much as...more
This book in set in the sixties seventies in Sydney. Schools (and teachers) were very different then - students were not very different, however. They wanted to know about their teachers, they gossiped and talked a lot and they tried to get away with as much as...more
On the day that Ronald Ryan was hanged in Melbourne, eleven girls are taken by their school teacher beyond the yellow gate that lead to ‘the big world’ and into public gardens to think about death. On previous visits, they had befriended the gardener, Morgan who was also a poet and conscientious objector. He reads his poetry aloud and imparts his thoughts about the world to an obviously smitten Miss Renshaw. When Morgan offers to take them to a special cave on the harbour, filled with Dreamtime...more
read this straight through one afternoon at the library.
The writing is beautiful, beautiful present-tense prose meant for the reader to drink in, following the well-crafted phrases from page to page just like two of the girls in the book followed the river down to an abandoned playground.
The little girls are wonderful and bright and Dubosarky captures not only their youthful innocence but also their fears, hopes and dreams.
This book is haunting, especially the ambiguous ending, which keeps the...more
The writing is beautiful, beautiful present-tense prose meant for the reader to drink in, following the well-crafted phrases from page to page just like two of the girls in the book followed the river down to an abandoned playground.
The little girls are wonderful and bright and Dubosarky captures not only their youthful innocence but also their fears, hopes and dreams.
This book is haunting, especially the ambiguous ending, which keeps the...more
The Golden Day is certainly immersive. The language, the world, the heat, the way Dubosarky writes of the girl-into-adult transition. If there’s one thing this book absolutely has, it is atmosphere. That sleepy, dreamy feeling when you sit in the classroom on a hot day – perfect. The excitement of young girls going on a slightly-naughty adventure – perfect. That feeling of dread and claustrophobia when things start to go wrong – perfect. It is exemplary when it comes to lulling you in. I’m just...more
When Miss Renshaw disappears from her class during a secret outing, her class is caught up in the mystery of the disappearance and the repercussions of their involvement. The era of the sixties is well evoked in the tone of the novel with the tensions between the conservatism of the earlier time in conflict with the liberalism of the new. The book has a similar dreamlike quality to it as in Picnic at Hanging Rock but I did not find myself as emotionally invested in this story or as satisfied at...more
Too haunting to even think about
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I picked this book up at The Moat, a bar/restaurant slightly underneath the Victorian State Library. It has a shelf of books that can be taken by customers on the proviso that at some stage, you put one in yourself - although a further proviso is "No Dan Brown" (seriously it says that on the sign). Anyway I'd heard of Dubosarsky and never read any of her stuff, and the cover was immediately entrancing - look at that purple! and the gold is luminous!
There's a little bit of Picnic at Hanging Rock...more
There's a little bit of Picnic at Hanging Rock...more
What a fabulous story, which put me in mind of both Picnic at Hanging Rock (which is mentioned) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The back blurb is right – Dubosarsky does take the reader on a strange journey, but it’s one you’re willing to take. The writing is lyrical and poetic without being frilly, and it’s concisely expressed, with not a word wasted. It’s so hard to define because it contains so many different strands of thought, but they are all gathered up and laid down perfectly on the p...more
This book clearly rides on the coat-tails of Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock. It would be hard not to notice the similarities - a group of schoolgirls go out with their teacher one day... and not every one will return.
However, it is really only similar in theme - the loss of innocence, the nature of mystery and the mystery of nature. When the resolution comes it is almost a dream - the reader can accept it or reject it.
A dark little fairytale.
However, it is really only similar in theme - the loss of innocence, the nature of mystery and the mystery of nature. When the resolution comes it is almost a dream - the reader can accept it or reject it.
A dark little fairytale.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Although I was kinda dreading reading this, only having to read it for school i was pleasantly surprised when it turned out semi-interesting. On first reading the blurb I was not that empowered to read it but with a mystery and a deadly one at that, i was captivated. Although it was kinda confusing to read i wouldn't mind reading it again.
Loved the nostalgic language of this book, like viewing a dream sequence. Very "Picnic at Hanging Rock" as others have suggested. My problem with the book was the ending - hated it!I wish is was vaguer, more inferred, less blatant. Something ghostly should leave you wondering. I wish I could say I liked this book more, because it was a joy to read, but a disappointment in the end.
Apr 23, 2011
Readingjay
added it
Although Ursula Dubosarsky does not mention Picnic at Hanging Rock when talking about influences in her author's note, comparisons are inevitable and The Golden Day and Picnic would make excellent paired texts for students to explore. They encompass two very different historical eras, but each has a mystery at its heart involving schoolgirls and in this instance, a Miss-Jean-Brody-ish teacher. Dubosarsky's storytelling is effortless. She draws the reader into the narrative with her trademark ele...more
A slight yet exquisitely rendered book about the mysterious disappearance of a girls’ school teacher, and the ripples of unease that spread out across the lives of her young students. Beautifully written, with some striking metaphors and images, the book is haunting in its strangeness.
Still puzzling over the last few pages. Mulling over what happened when eleven little girls, on a spur-of-the-moment excursion to a local park, emerged from a cave at the water's edge while their trusted teacher Miss Renshaw, was never seen again.
A strangely sweet story of school-girl friendships and secrets.
A strangely sweet story of school-girl friendships and secrets.
The thing about this book is that it had so much mystery that I didn't like it. This book is more a disscusion book and is great to read witha group so once everyone has finished you share ideas of the book.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful mystery story, although it got a little confusing at the end. But that's just good mystery. A wonderful read for all people
This was an interesting exploration of the nature of guilt and ghosts from the perspective of children and the adults in their lives.
It was interesting, not in a bad way, but in a good way & I think it was a "one of a kind" storyline. So all together pretty good!
Teaching was easier without all the permission notes and risk assessments! Good mystery......wonder what really happened?
May 08, 2013
Karen Yingling
added it
Just not what I need for my library. It sounded good to ME, but I couldn't really get into it.
Glorious short novel, which is both a wonderfully-observed character study and a haunting mystery.
This is an interesting book and would read it in my free time as it has very good visual imgery
More short story than novel, this mystery and coming of age story is beautifully crafted and feels like a dream. Off to read another Dubosarsky now as think she is a gifted writer so keen to experience more. Must also read Picnic at Hanging Rock as sounds like some parallels. Only an afternoon worth of reading but definitely worth it. Thought provoking for sure.
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Ursula Dubosarsky is an award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults. About The Golden Day, her first book with Candlewick Press, she says, "The little girls watch, wonder, respond, change, and grow — and then their childhood is gone, forever. This element of the story, I suppose, is at least partly autobiographical. But, as I say — all of our teachers come home safe and so...more
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“Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens and think about death.”
—
2 people liked it
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