AustLit

'For almost 140 years, the author of Australia’s first book for children was a mystery. Known only by the description ‘a Lady Long Resident in New South Wales’, she was the subject of much speculation. It was not until 1980, after a decade of sleuthing, that legendary bibliographer Marcie Muir gave her a name: Charlotte Waring Atkinson. And not only a name, but an extensive creative family history, connecting her to two of the nation’s celebrated contemporary children’s writers, Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell.

'To Forsyth and Murrell, Atkinson (also known as Barton) is great-great-great-great grandmother and the subject of the stories they grew up on—part of a thread of creative women that runs through the history of their family. Hers is one of the great lost stories of Australian history: a tale of love, grief, violence and triumph in the face of overwhelming odds.

'After spending half her life educating the children of the well-to-do in England, in 1826, at 30 years of age, Charlotte Waring accepted a job on the other side of the world. She was to teach the children of Maria Macarthur, daughter of former New South Wales governor Philip Gidley King. But on the voyage, love diverted her to a different future: marriage to the eligible James Atkinson meant she spent just seven short months with her charges. What followed were years of hardship in the New South Wales bush, including the death of Atkinson and her subsequent marriage to an abusive drunk, a brutal attack by bushrangers, penury and the threat of having her children taken away.

'In Searching for Charlotte, Forsyth and Murrell tell Charlotte’s story along with that of their own journey to discover her. In an intriguing account, the sisters join the reader in reacting to Charlotte’s actions: wondering what could have motivated certain choices; admiring the strength of spirit that pushed Charlotte through turmoil in the Australian colonies; and reviling attitudes that were common to the mid-1800s but are abhorrent in the twentieth century.

'The extraordinary, long-buried life story of Australia’s earliest published children’s author, Searching for Charlotte combines elements of biography, recreation of history and rediscovery of family history. It is a sometimes confronting but ultimately heartwarming journey into the story of a family with writing in its blood.' (Publisher's abstract)

'An enchanting collection of little known fairy tales about young women who prevail because of their kindness and compassion.

1. Snow-White & Rose Red save an enchanted bear from an ungrateful goblin
2. Marushka is sent to find strawberries in the snow by her cruel step-sister but wins the help of the Twelve Months
3. Ailsa climbs Mischanter Mountain to rescue her sister, armed with nothing more than her sewing kit and her parents' blessing
4. Reinhilda outwits a witch and saves her sweetheart
5. A kind henwife helps Morag find a home for her family with the help of a magic pot
6. Agnes and a young Romany woman together overcome the curse of an enchanted cup
7. Brigid honours a promise she made, even though it takes her to the underworld and back

'With an introduction by Isobelle Carmody, Snow White, Rose Red & Other Tales of Kind Young Women contains tales from Germany, Slovenia, Ireland and the Scottish Travellers. It will transform the way you think about fairy tales.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Viviane de Faitaud has grown up alone at the Chateau de Belisama-sur-le-Lac in Brittany, for her father, the Marquis de Ravoisier, lives at the court of Louis XVI in Versailles. After a hailstorm destroys the chateau’s orchards, gardens and fields an ambitious young Welshman, David Stronach, accepts the commission to plan the chateau’s new gardens in the hope of making his name as a landscape designer.
David and Viviane fall in love, but it is an impossible romance. Her father has betrothed her to a rich duke who she is forced to marry and David is hunted from the property. Viviane goes to court and becomes a maid-in-waiting to Marie-Antoinette and a member of the extended royal family. Angry and embittered, David sails away from England with Lord Macartney, the British ambassador, who hopes to open up trade with Imperial China.

'In Canton, the British embassy at last receives news from home, including their first reports of the French Revolution. David hears the story of ‘The Blue Rose’, a Chinese fable of impossible love, and discovers the blood-red rose growing in the wintry garden. He realises that he is still in love with Viviane and must find her.

'Viviane escapes the guillotine and returns to the ruin of Chateau de Belisima to rebuild her life. David carrying a cluster of rosehips finds her there, and together they decide to grow the fabled red rose of China in France.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Once
A long time ago
My grandmother’s grandmother
Travelled far, far across the seas
Over the rim of the world to where the stars were new

'Kate Forsyth tells tales of her ancestors’ lives in Australia in this beautifully illustrated picture book that celebrates the power of story. From the first perilous journey to a new land, to the great wars and civil rights movements, readers live through key moments in Australia’s fascinating history.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'All of the seven tales in this collection have one thing in common. They are stories of young women who face darkness and danger, but who prevail against the odds because of the brightness of their spirit and the strength of their resolve.

'The Moon is saved from the bog by the courage of those who love her bright light ...

'Fenella stays silent for seven years and weaves cloth from nettles to save her brothers ...

'Nastia must learn to survive alone in the land of the midnight sun ...

'Jiayang, daughter of the Emperor of China, devises an impossible quest for her unwanted suitors ...

'Jennet holds fast to her beloved, despite the cruel enchantments the Faery Queen casts upon him ...

'Sofiya outwits the Tsar and so wins his love and respect ...

'Molly Whuppie outwits a giant and saves her sisters ...

'These stories of bright young women will remind readers of their own inner radiance, which gives them power to illuminate the whole world.

'The Buried Moon & Other Tales of Bright Young Women will transform the way you think about fairy tales. '  (Publication summary)

'This article explores Australian author Kate Forsyth’s obsession with ‘Rapunzel’, from the time she first read the fairy tale as a child in hospital through to her doctoral research into the history of the ‘Maiden in the Tower’ and her creative responses to the story as expressed in her novel Bitter greens and her poem ‘In the tower’.'  (Publication abstract)

'For many young women, the only fairy-tales they know are the ones that have been retold by Walt Disney Studios. Once upon a time, these stories of magical transformation were meant for young women as they grew away from childhood and towards adulthood. They were told by their mothers and grandmothers and the wise women of the clan as they spun and wove and stirred their pots and made their potions. The heroines of these old tales set out on a difficult road of trials to discover their true destiny. And, contrary to popular opinion, marrying a prince was not the only goal.

These ancient tales of wonder and adventure are about learning to be strong, brave, kind and true-hearted, and trusting in yourself to change the world for the better. These are not your usual passive princesses waiting forlornly for their prince to come...

The brave young women from tale of yore in Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women will transform the way you think about fairy tales.'

Source: Back cover.

'One English village. Two thousand years of stories.

'People have always come to make wishes at the Silver Well: in Pagan times and Christian, during revolution and war. When Rosie arrives in the tiny village of Cerne Abbas with a broken heart, she becomes connected across the centuries with others who have yearned for something. Seven stories, set in seven time periods, reveal the deepest longings of the human heart.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Kate Forsyth shares her favourite book, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

'The Pre-Raphaelites were obsessed with liberating art and love from the shackles of convention. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was the self-professed leader of the mysterious brotherhood of young men who were convinced they could change the world.

'Rossetti was smitten with his favourite model, Lizzie Siddal. Lizzie had dreams of becoming an artist herself; however, gripped by jealousy at her lover’s perceived infidelities she was falling prey to a laudanum addiction.

Gabriel’s friend Ned Jones had never had any artistic training and his family wanted him to be a parson. Only young Georgie Macdonald – the daughter of a Methodist minister – understood.

'Their Pre-Raphaelite brother William ‘Topsy’ Morris fell head-over-heels for a ‘stunner’ from the slums. Seventeen-year-old Janey Burden had a wild, dark beauty. She would become Morris’ wife, but Gabriel’s most famous model.

'Years later, cuckolded by the man he had hero-worshipped, Topsy turned to Georgie for comfort. She too was suffering. Soon after the birth of their daughter Margot, Ned had begun an ardent liaison with his model. Scandal threatened to destroy them all.

'Inspired by this true story of passionate women and men who believed that the beauty of art did make the every day life of all citizens more satisfying, Beauty in Thorns is a novel about awakenings of all kinds.'

Source: Publisher's blurb,

'A unique collection presenting Kate Forsyth’s extensive academic research into the ‘Rapunzel’ fairy tale, alongside several other pieces related to fairy tales and folklore.

'This book is not your usual reference work, but a complex and engaging exploration of the subject matter, written with Forsyth’s distinctive flair.' (Publication summary)