The favourite of generations of Australians since it was first published in 1908, We of the Never-Never can truly be called a classic.
She had an unerring ear and eye for the sounds and sights of the country and this is her moving and simple account of her life amidst the beauty and cruelty of the land, and the isolation and loneliness - together with the comradeship and kindness of those around her. One of the very few white women in the area, she was at first resented by people on and around the station, till her warmth and spirit won their affection and respect.
In 1902, newly-married Jeannie Gunn (Mrs Aeneas Gunn) left the security and comfort of her Melbourne home to travel to the depths of the Northern Territory, where her husband had been appointed manager of ‘The Elsey’, a large cattle station. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jeannie Gunn's We of the Never Never is a classic work of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.Rare, Collectable, Folios | History & Studies - General | Biography, Autobiography, Memoirs, Letters | Northern Territory Although the local cattle drovers are initially wary of her presence, the narrator proves herself as a courageous and hardworking woman, a friend of settlers and Aboriginal people alike. Over hundreds of miles on horseback, they observe for the first time the natural beauty of some of the wildest landscapes on Earth. It was out of town just then, up-country somewhere, billabonging in true bush-whacker style, but was expected to return in a day or two, when it would be at our service." Determined to follow her husband wherever he goes, "little Missus" braves the harsh trek to the distant cattle station where he has been appointed overseer. "To begin somewhere near the beginning, the M¿luka-better known at that time as the new Boss for the Elsey-and I, his 'missus,' were at Darwin, in the Northern Territory, waiting for the train that was to take us just as far as it could-one hundred and fifty miles-on our way to the Never-Never. Sympathetic and utterly human, Gunn's voice is a testament to her bravery as the first woman to settle in the Mataranka area, where she lived for just over a year until her husband's tragic death from malaria. Based on her experience accompanying her husband Aeneas to the remote cattle station of Elsey, Gunn's novel is a fascinating masterpiece of Australian literature that explores the landscape of the continent's Northern Territory while depicting the tense relationship between white settlers and the Aboriginal people they displaced. We of the Never Never (1908) is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn.
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