A lovely review by Writing WA in today’s West Australian newspaper.
“Bernice Barry’s biography not only brings Molloy’s life and times alive for readers but also shares her years of research.”
You can read it in full in The West Australian.
Another great review this week. Thank you to the National Trust (Australia) and to reviewer Dr Robyn Taylor (NT quarterly magazine, ‘Trust News’ August 2015).
‘This beautifully illustrated book is a joy to read’.
It ‘has a different approach’ that ‘brings psychological depth to the main characters and greater poignancy’.
And thank you to the Biodiversity Heritage Library, one of my favourite online browsing places. A fascinating article popped up on Facebook this morning.
My own research showed that the Leach family were close friends of the Kennedys and the reason Georgiana met her future husband. John Molloy and Jonathan Leach fought together in the Peninsular Wars. The other two brothers, George (a lawyer) and William Elford Leach were also close friends with Georgiana’s parents and she knew them from childhood as house guests in her home near Carlisle. William Elford Leach was a very talented zoologist whose work influenced Darwin, but he died tragically at a young age. Georgiana’s youngest brother George was entrusted with some of Leach’s precious specimens. You can read about this on Page 111 of ‘Georgiana Molloy: the Mind that Shines’ and if you’d like to know more or to see images of the beautifully hand-coloured pages of Leach’s most well-known publication, here’s the link. Thank you BHL!
https://www.facebook.com/BioDivLibrary/posts/10152889273631566
A big thank you to the Royal Western Australian Historical Society and to Gillian Lilleyman for her review of ‘Georgiana Molloy: the mind that shines’ in ‘History West’, August 2015, which describes the book as ‘an even closer study of Georgiana and ‘a sensitive reappraisal’ that ‘will assure this fascinating pioneer heroine a new generation of devotees’.
Writing about the strand of anecdotes that relate highlights from my own research story, Gillian Lilleyman says, ‘Anyone who researches family and social history will relate to her excitement at chance discoveries, the fragmented pieces of information that suddenly fit together’.
‘Although the author maintains a presence she has a light touch. Her elegant prose is very readable. Particularly eloquent are her descriptions of the gardens and landscapes of Georgiana’s past which, accompanied by Georgiana’s own words, convey a greater appreciation of how, along with her strong religious faith, Georgiana’s love of nature gave her the fortitude to adapt to pioneer life.’