Elianne in Aussie Readers

Aug 04, 2013 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, net-galley, read-on-kindle, 2013-release, own-read, historical-fiction, arc

When young Elianne Desmarais was being courted by Jim Durham, she was excited to realize Jim would remove her from her father’s plantation. Her father was a drunk and since his wife, Ellie’s mother, had died, his debt had multiplied to such an extent that he would probably lose the property. So when Jim requested Elianne’s hand in marriage, an agreement was reached – Jim subsequently paid off that debt in exchange for Ellie.

After their marriage, “Big Jim” and Ellie travelled to Australia where When young Elianne Desmarais was being courted by Jim Durham, she was excited to realize Jim would remove her from her father’s plantation. Her father was a drunk and since his wife, Ellie’s mother, had died, his debt had multiplied to such an extent that he would probably lose the property. So when Jim requested Elianne’s hand in marriage, an agreement was reached – Jim subsequently paid off that debt in exchange for Ellie.

After their marriage, “Big Jim” and Ellie travelled to Australia where they settled in Queensland, near Bundeburg. The estate, which housed a massive sugar mill, gradually became one of the most successful in the area – “Big Jim” named it Elianne in honour of his beautiful French wife whom he loved to distraction. The 1880s was a time when the Kanakas (Pacific Island workers) came to Australia in droves to work in the sugar cane industry, and Elianne was no different – there were literally hundreds of these hard working families living and working for “Big Jim”.

The Christmas of 1964 saw Kate and her brothers, Neil and Alan, back at Elianne with their father, Stanley Durham and mother Hilda. Christmas was a family tradition which had been carried on for generations, and Stan was a man who had followed in his Grandfather’s footsteps – he idolised “Big Jim”, but had no time for his own father, Bartholomew.

On learning that their father was going to demolish the stately old homestead, the original which “Big Jim” had built for his bride, Kate had discovered a trunk full of beautifully kept books, books which Grandmother Ellie had obviously loved. But underneath those books, Kate discovered ledgers, and within the writings of the ledgers she learned her grandmother had written her diary – all in French.

That day was to mark the beginning of the deep and massive change to the Durham family. The secrets from the past were about to emerge into the turmoil of a country which was embroiled in the Vietnam War, the White Australia Policy, politics and freedom of speech, the pill and rock’n’roll! What would happen to Kate’s family? What would happen to a family which had survived for generations, supported families for generations, and had been one of Queensland’s biggest and most honourable of names within the industry for as long as anyone could remember?

I absolutely loved this book! The history, the depth, the weaving of the characters; all set a fantastic stage in a book which went with ease from Kate’s time in the 1960s to Ellie’s time in the 1880s. This is a story of love, family, lies and secrets, a story of ownership and possession, a story of success and ultimate failure. But overall it is a story which will blow you away with the enjoyment of the pages. A book I have no hesitation in recommending highly.

With thanks to NetGalley, The Reading Room and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Aug 23, 2013 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, australian-authors, released-2013, 4-5-stars, reading-list-2015

It was only fairly recently that I realised that Judy Nunn (who I knew was an actor on the TV show Home and Away) wrote books. And she’s been quite prolific, as well.

I was interested to read Elianne, as it’s set in my home state of Queensland, although I have never been to Bundaberg. There were some parts set in Brisbane, and it was nice to recognise local places.

This was a very interesting read about life in the cane fields around the turn of the 19th to 20th century and about how what we see o ...more

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May 04, 2015 Gerda rated it it was ok

Shelves: didn-t-finish

Judy Nunn is working to a formula. I read Territory a few weeks back and quite enjoyed it. It was a bit predictable but not too bad.
It was therefor a bit of a surprise to find that Elianne was written with the same characters albeit they had different names.
The same big Patriarch who dominates the family and has no time for weaker men. A man who wants to have sons who are just like him. The same downtrodden housewife, who has no say in her life and he is cheated on by "big man". Throw in a few r ...more

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