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A review by steph_84
Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany
3.0
This is an unusual book, told from the perspective of a young woman who is a sewing instructor but becomes a farmer in the Mallee.
For me the best thing about it was the snapshot it provided of rural life in Australia in the 1930s, particularly for women. It’s also interesting because in some ways it’s quite a dark book - with unhappiness and poverty, plus the impact of the drought and a world war looming - but the dark content is contrasted with the bright sun of the Mallee and the cheerful narration of the protagonist who, I only realised at the end, must have been so unhappy but had few ways to express it as a woman in 1930s. It made me wonder if we ever really got to know her at all or just the face she showed the world.
It’s not one of those “gripping thrill ride” type books, more of a quiet peak into the past, and a tragedy that slowly unfolds.
For me the best thing about it was the snapshot it provided of rural life in Australia in the 1930s, particularly for women. It’s also interesting because in some ways it’s quite a dark book - with unhappiness and poverty, plus the impact of the drought and a world war looming - but the dark content is contrasted with the bright sun of the Mallee and the cheerful narration of the protagonist who, I only realised at the end, must have been so unhappy but had few ways to express it as a woman in 1930s. It made me wonder if we ever really got to know her at all or just the face she showed the world.
It’s not one of those “gripping thrill ride” type books, more of a quiet peak into the past, and a tragedy that slowly unfolds.