Master Of Ransome

by Lucy Walker

Sara Brent had come all the way from England to work for Clifford Camden in Adelaide. Then he sent her as temporary secretary to his cousin Gregory-the master of Ransome station. sara was a hard worker and made herself indespensable-to such an extent that Gregory made her his wife. But as time went by she discovered that she loved the master of Ransome, and that marriage on a common-sense basis would never be enough.

Genres: Romance, Australia, Marriage Of Convenience, Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Lucy Walker (1907–1987) was the most famous of a few pseudonyms used by Dorothy Lucie Sanders (née McClemans). She was born in Boulder, Western Australia, on 4 May 1907. Her father was of Irish stock, a minister of the Church of England. Her mother was from New Zealand. Dorothy began writing at an early age, despite her father’s scepticism about her ability.

A qualified teacher from Perth College (1928), she taught in state schools in Western Australia until 1936. She continued teaching later in London while her husband, a fellow school teacher whom she married in 1936, completed his doctorate in education.

They returned to Perth, Australia in 1938 but Dorothy Lucie Sanders only began her writing in 1945, producing articles, short stories, and later novels. In 1948 her first novel, Fairies on the Doorstep, was published.

As Lucy Walker, she wrote about 39 romance books:
Fairies On the Doorstep (1948)
Who Leaves the Crowd (1952)
The One Who Kisses (1954)
Sweet and Faraway (1955)
Come Home Dear (1956)
Heaven is Here (1957)
Master of Ransome (1958)
Kingdom of the heart (1959)
The Stranger from the North (1959)
Love in a Cloud (1960)
The Loving Heart (1960)
The Moonshiner (1961)
Wife to Order (1961)
The Distant Hills (1962)
Down in the Forest (1962)
The Call of the Pines (1963)
Follow Your Star (1963)
The Man from Outback (1964)
Reaching for the Stars (1964)
A Man Called Masters (1965)
The Other Girl (1965)
The Ranger in the Hills (1966)
The River Is Down (1967)
Home at Sundown (1968)
The Gone-Away Man (1969)
Shining River (1969)
Six for Heaven (1969)
Joyday for Jodi (1971)
The Bell Branch (1971)
The Mountain That Went to the Sea (1971)
Ribbons In Her Hair (1972)
Pepper Tree Bay (1972)
Pool of Dreams (1973)
Girl Alone (1973)
Monday in Summer (1973)
Runaway Girl (1975)
Gamma's Girl (1977)
So Much Love (1977)

These romance novels were very successful in Australia and overseas. The stories were meticulously researched; the writer travelled extensively in the Western Australian outback, recording details of scenery, personalities and social customs in her notebooks and diaries.

Other pseudonyms used by this author: Shelley Dean, Dorothy Lucie Sanders, and Lucy Walker.

Dorothy Lucie Sanders was widowed in 1986 and died the following year. Her daughter and two sons survived her.

Reviews

[Sometime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little KU gem that I saw in my feed and decided to give a try. It has a wonderful sense of place-I could practically see the beautiful house, an oasis in an otherwise harsh Australian landscape. There were some great (and not so great) secondary characters, too.

Sara goes to Ransome to act as secretary to Greg, the owner, and help plan a birthday party for Greg's younger sister who is turning 21. Poor Greg runs the property and makes very good money but has to split it between all his money grubbing relatives. Sara wants to help him deal with the business side of things so he can focus on the horses/cows/sheep. Sara is often described as having a twinkle in her eyes and I think the girl of the cover is the perfect model for Sara. Greg is a man of few words who spends a lot of time staring out at the distance or looking at his shoes.

The slice of life that we read about was very compelling and I really enjoyed those parts of the book. If you're looking for romance, be warned, there's not much romance in this book. Sara learns about all the family politics at play, the running of the property, how to ride a horse, and begins to fall in love with Greg. Greg delivers the most unromantic proposal of all time and asks Sara to marry him as a business proposition (with maybe some children down the road). There is a lot of misunderstanding andmiscommunication no communication. There is OW drama because Sara hears from everyone how Julia the OW had dated Greg but then something happened. Throw in the fact that Greg lies to Sara about meeting Julia the night after their wedding. Sara, instead of getting pissed and demanding to know why he lied, decides to give him the cold shoulder and Greg retreats thinking she just wants to keep things cold and businesslike. (He only met with her to get rid of her, nothing happened. But why lie?) Greg gets jealous because Sara has a OM pilot friend. We go round and round with them never talking, avoiding each other, acting like proud idiots until the ILY on literally the very last page. The angst and misunderstanding were great, but the romance was a fail. We don't even get any answers/explanations to what has been going on, the history of Greg and Julia, why he wanted to marry Sara. We only get "we'll talk about it tomorrow". I needed a little more closure.

They do get their HEA in the end and it was a sweet book. There were kisses only, but I'm sure after the book ended they scorched the sheets, we just don't get to witness any of it.

4 stars for the writing and all the details of life in Australia. 2 stars for the romance = 3 stars.

SafetyClean book, Kisses only. h a virgin, H nothing said of his experience. I would guess he's been pretty busy and isolated so not much if any. No cheating, OW/OM drama and jealousy which they never talk about that delivers mild angst. We're never told about the history between Greg and Julia, only gossip from other people. Greg does say that Julia is annoying so I'm going to guess that he may have had a crush on her when he was much younger, he saw what a horrible person she is and moved on.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marriage of convenience story between a temporary secretary and a landowner hero who manages his extended family's wool and cattle stations. Hero needs a secretary to help with planning a party that his mother is throwing and to finally get organized. Heroine works in the city for the family, but this is her first trip to the Outback.

Because one of the hero's womanizing cousins recommended her, she has to prove herself efficient. Heroine wins everyone over but the cigarette-in-a-holder OW. The hero asks the heroine to marry him for "business purposes." He needs someone to manage the family (like talk them out of buying a yacht so they can party off the Great Barrier Reef) so he can concentrate on actually making the money.

Why a 20 year-old is the best person for this, is beyond me. But hero might just be lying to himself about his attraction to her. :)

H/h marry. Have a wedding night (closed door). Then the heroine sees the hero kissing the OW on the cheek the next day and they begin a frosty détente. Heroine doesn't know what she wants or how to get it - so the middle part of the story is fairly muddled.

Meanwhile, the hero thinks heroine is in love with someone else. So they are both hopeless.

The breakthrough comes when the heroine is in a plane crash with the hero and the OM. Heroine realizes she has conquered her fear of flying by going through the worst experience possible and surviving - so she decides to take this newfound confidence into her dealings with the family. She bans the OW from the homestead. She says what she wants and hero backs her up all the way. These leads to a very abrupt ending at the bedroom door with the implication that the H/h are going to sleep together again. Lights off, of course. :)

Just a fun, slow burn romance.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.65*
I really enjoyed this very fresh feeling vintage.
How independent, self-respecting and normal the hs were in the 50s. I don't know when the regression started. Late 80s? 90s?
And no overt racism. Or is it an edited retelling?

It's good to go back to the outback. (Margaret Way is the one who usually takes me there.)
In this slow burn, we have a English 20 yo h, Sara who has 'come to Australia as a typist with a Trade Commission from the United Kingdom.'Working at the city office of a Camden Pastoral Company, she gets sent to the outback, to the Camden homestead, the Ransome, to help organize an house party for the extended Camden clan. She's to be secretary to the boss, Greg Camden.
The H, btw is an almost alpha but a calm, kind one and not an overtly domineering one. The ABO system was perhaps still evolving.

Now, the Camdens may well be Camelot.
A feuding, scheming lot with Greg as the calm, quiet but firm head. But, even then he faces revolts and dissensions often. He's only one of the nine share holders but his position as the one running the million acre property and making it profitable makes him the natural leader.
Then we have the other Camdens - his observant and ironical sister, his extravagant and silly-but-maybe-not-so-silly mother, the womanizing cousin Clifford who handles the city side of business and the h's initial boss and assumed by one and all to the h's love interest, and of course, Julia - the beautiful, b*tchy and territorial ow and the H's one time almost fiancee. She's said to have dumped him but is now back as the 'sheep' have got him 'half a million'. (When even half a mill amounted to something!)

The slow burn has a mild angst as the h gets a mildly shabby/chilly treatment at the hands of the H (also others) initially as he feels Clifford has fobbed off one of his silly incompetent women on him. And also, she's unable to understand where she fits within this family environment, in the 'ornaments' or the 'chattels'.
“She was feminist enough to resent that men should think of women as either ornaments or chattels.”
(So, a 50s feminist h. Really nice.)

The book waxes and wanes. The h/H barely have a intimate or loving moment. They were more together pre-party/marriage than during and after. There's a consummation, and we are told he was -'infinitely kind and tender to her in the night'.
I liked it better till before the party and before they get married. In fact, I enjoyed the h's inner thoughts in the first half, as she evaluates everything and everyone around her in this new and novel environ and how she forms an opinion about them.

The OW?
The H is shown as sweet and overly indulgent to her - teeth-gnashingly so.
He once wanted to marry her, we are told but it's never expounded on or his real feelings. If he was sweet on her romantically, when did his preference/feelings turn towards the h? What were his real thoughts when he proposes to the h? Only business or had he started developing feelings for her?
Nor why was he so indulgent to the ow's b*tchy shenanigans all through and then acts all relieved at the end, when the h gives the ow her marching orders. Why couldn't he handle the woman himself?
So, we get the old-school no-tell-no-show treatment.
The very nice om is treated shabbily, as an afterthought (- so that began way back in the 50s).

The house party was a bore. Or got there slowly.
And how could the H not know who he was holding so tenderly and for so long in his arms? Masks, hair color and perfume - can they camouflage someone so well? He should know his women better. Really!
And then prolonging and taking it to the old homestead is an overkill. The author had something (big) planned but it was too ott - to rid the h of her flying fear and send her into shock where she berates one and all - in a adrenaline rush. Not a real comeuppance, I'd say.
And I wish she'd cared as much for the om (after he's injured) as for his gift of the entree dish that she hugs to her heart once too often.

Anyways, after a boring later third, the ending is cute. And as it's the 50s, the switch is not by the bed...
“Now stay there, while I turn out the light.’
He strode over to the door switch and flicked it off.
The ending is all hurried and no-talk kind. All the h's efforts at talking, explaining or asking are hushed away with the light being switched off.
Well, the reader is left high and dry while they do what they're supposed to do after switching off the lights.

And I mostly ignored the smoking. But by jove, did they smoke? The h rarely if ever.
Mostly the ow (with her cigarette holders) and then everyone went berserk at the party.
All this when they knew of the dangers ---
“Smoking yourself to death would be the shortest cut to peace round this place.”
(says a character to the ow. Ouch!)

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The modern reader might find that there is too much attention to the business and estate management aspect, but I enjoyed this story about a sweet h who seems to be outmaneuvered on all fronts by her snobby in-laws, the narcissistic OW, and the withholding H. She is also hamstrung by her many admirers at the homestead, since they make her the fodder for gossip. She ends up tolerating far too much even as she makes inroads with key staff.

By the end, she faces her fears and drops the hammer on pretty much everyone, but in particular on the OW. She flexes her muscles perfectly. There are also some cute and sweet moments with the H that Lucy Walker is so good at.

[Aou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice MOC story but language was hard to understand for me.

[Jessica Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of an abrupt ending, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A good glimspe into station life

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good Australian romance

This is a very sweet, clean romance written in 1958 by Lucy Walker. She can do very special moments with her writing but one has to be careful to catch them. The first book I read by her, I was in my 20s and absolutely loved her. She managed to stop my breathing with one little scene. She doesn't do it in this book--well not much, but this is a very pleasant read. Her best book in my Opinion is Heaven is Here due to its wonderful protagonist, very very different from most of Walker's heros. The Other Girl is also exceptional.

Since reading this novel, Master of Ransome, I have read 4 others: They all more or less have the same set up: very young, innocent girl meets the man who is now her executor, partner, guardian and at some points asks her to marry him. Some other person asks the young girl if she understand what that means. Of course she does, but the man is way too honorable to take advantage of her and so they continue living together as brother and sister until the very end when on the last page they declare their love. Only one book so far is a little different--which I am currently reading--The Other Girl, but which I will review separately. These are the books I have read to date: Girl Alone, Wife to Order, The River is Down, Home at Sundown and all Kindle Unlimited so free for the time being. All of them have heroines who are too innocent and too sweet, heros that are forever looking into the far distance, but all are tall, slim, charming and reticent. There is a lot of travel copy about Australia 50 years or so ago and very little romance. Not badly written but the steamy sex here is left only to your imagination. You have been warned.

Edit of previous review: Walker does something funny. She has her 18 year old heroine marry the older owner of the homestead where she works and on her honeymoon her enemy Julia shows up but the boss keeps it a secret and this after they have slept together. This is the 2nd time she has used this plot. I didn't notice it before. Can't recommend this silly book.

[Claire Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect from a romance novel written so long ago. But I really enjoyed it. It is the original rural romance and I was surprised to find that in 50 years, not much has changed in the genre, it also had a storyline that was completely familiar.

I'm so glad I found this book and chose to read it. I loved the characters and the dynamics between everyone, it was so familiar that I slipped into the story easily. I think this story has definitely stood the test of time.

[Rs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one should be renamed as Misunderstanding at Ransome....
Ugh this was sooooo annoying

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

My copy of this is the 1968 fifth reprint. Set in 1958 in Australia.

Sweet? Quaint? Typical of the era? All are answered; yes.

Luckily I am an older Aussie so I could easily understand the language sometimes used.
No sex scenes in this old-fashioned romance novel, but we certainly understand the innuendo of the wedding night. The big strong male romantic interest was typical of the era in novels of this time. The women were married quite young and often were seen and not heard types, raising children and keeping house was her domain fully expected of her. Full of the young woman's doubts and fears, just like we all have at some point when we are interested in a an opposite-sex attraction, made for a slightly tedious read. However, I looked at the storyline through the eyes of a young woman from the late 1950s, which helped understand her doubts better.

Always a good idea to read novels from many eras in time to get a glimpse at the social etiquette, the role of men and women, and how servants of any race were treated. This helps us see how far we have come. Or not...

[Bea Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why have I never read this author before? I loved it! It's got super strong Essie Summers vibes which I adore, but more obvious closed door shenanigans going on which I always like. I do enjoy a clean romance but if it's too chaste I feel as though the characters exist in an entirely sexless world... and what fun is that?

Anywho - efficient kind hearted secretary type in a marriage of convenience with a gruff, station master (is that what he is?) - throw in a complete slut of another women, some manwhore other men, some aching hearts and not too annoying episodes of jealousy and badda bing.

[Ariane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though this book lacked a lot, I enjoyed it, surprisingly. The plot was questionable and miscommunication dominated the whole story which was frustrating. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Australia through the book. I also liked many of the characters--Sarah, Gregory, Sam, and Jack.

Calling this a romance is misleading though as nothing happens between the couple until the last 3 minutes.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those stories where the hero and heroine don't talk to each other and let silly misunderstandings continue until five pages from the end of the book, which always frustrates me. However, the setting was interesting, and the main characters were likeable, although most of the other supporting female characters weren't.

[Rg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as it was 40 years ago.

Clean, wholesome romance with great descriptions of the Australian outback. Just lovely. I was happy to add this and 14 more to my library.

[DocNora · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of her best!

[Hamada Cena]

That novel wasn't that good to me. I just didn't like it that much.

[Jo Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[KSHG · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.5/10 her best I have read so far. The cohesion is outstanding in the story, with events linked throughout, almost like symbols. Deduct a bit for the first meet scene - surely heroine should have guessed who the hero was. MCs are both likeable. The few insights into hero's POV were excellent and funny. Bought as kindle e-book

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skip to the last quarter of the book and enjoy yourself.