Just So Stories

Walker Books Australia

April 2024

ISBN13:9781760657840

Australia RRP:$19.99

New Zealand RRP:$22.99

Pamela Rushby’s books are always a treat. For me though, it’s a given that those historical fictions set in Brisbane are the most fascinating. Because I didn’t grow up here, I knew a bare minimum of the city’s history prior to moving here in the 80s, and though I’ve learned some after teaching in Queensland for over thirty years, it’s not much more than the basic facts I knew re colonial times.

This new book about the Land Girls formed during the Second World War is absolutely a revelation. I had never given a second thought as to who might have been picking pineapples during that time.

Pamela has developed characters who represent a cross-section of the young women of the time, drawn from various classes and settings, all of them thrown into a vital role without which the agricultural economy of this state would have collapsed.

At the same time she teases out the other ramifications of that period, with the (what was considered) intrusion of the American forces in Brisbane, and the subsequent hostilities that erupted, the GI brides and the shameful oversight of the sterling effort of these women at war. Certainly, the inequalities both of genders as well as race are shown up, and provide the reader with much on which to reflect.

Young Hilly’s encounter and friendship with Aboriginal girl, Nancy, and the discussion about being paid for work if she joins the land army is just one example. The attitude of her GI Georgian boyfriend towards a ‘black’ person is another indicator of the racial discrimination so prevalent, both here and in the US.

We may have come a long way from the times when a shearing crew would be averse to working alongside a woman, in any capacity, but still a long way to go (as stories from the FIFO mining centres prove). Then there is the reaction of the girls to the Italian POWs being sent to help pick fruit in the later years. So many people, including Australians, were led to believe that all the opposing forces were rapacious monsters, when we know the truth is many were just decent people being forced to do despicable deeds.

There’s a lot to unpack here but make no mistake, this is a narrative that moves along briskly and makes these points in a subtle, yet powerful manner. All of this not only makes for a fantastic and engaging read for older students, but IMO means this would be an ideal novel selection for an English lit program (currently, I am disgusted at the choices being made in this respect in Qld schools, and writing a blog piece on the topic slowly). 

Alternatively, if you are far-sighted enough to have a ‘read around your topic’ program, put this one into that – it could slot easily into several categories: war, women’s rights/equality, gender discrimination, xenophobia v patriotism and local history.

Hilly, Aileen and Glad are each escaping unhappiness in their homes, and are all excited at the prospect of doing their bit for the war effort. Pay, uniforms, keep and seeing different places are also big attractions. The reality turns out to be far removed from the poster with the happy suntanned young woman in her shorts looking like she’s never raised a sweat.

When they are faced with crumbling sheds and hessian blankets, working long hard hours in all weathers, basic food, no entertainment and, often, the surly, or predatory, attitudes from the men who remain on the farms and stations, the girls sometimes find it difficult but always find their camaraderie and good humour carries them through.

They are, and these were in real life, girls with grit demonstrating it over and over again, despite the fact that many of them were city girls, and had been hairdressers, shop assistants and the like with absolutely zero knowledge of rural life or farmwork.

I loved the narrative and the characters, and I loved reading about pineapple farms in Birkdale as well as the other places further out. What a sensational read it is – given I ate it up over two nights says it all I think! – and how much insight into Brisbane’s, and Queensland’s, history as well as that of the women who fought (and died, in some cases) alongside any men, albeit in a different arena.

Absolutely a crackerjack book and one that you should grab as soon as you can. (Invite both your English and History HoDs to read it!). I highly recommend it for your secondary readers but I would also consider a discerning Year 6 student .