Devils' Hill

by Nan Chauncy

Badge Leaves for Scnoot Aw, well ...well, I best get going," Badge muttered reluctantly, still turning his back on the thin track leading through dense Tasmanian rain forests to the world Outside. He was Badge Lorenny, going to school for the first time. In all his eleven years he had never seen so much as the outside of a school building. "I best get going," he repeated, still facing the west-the wrong direction-with eyes fastened on his mother's, like the lost stare of a possum disturbed in daylight. His fingers clutched nervously at the rope round his pack and for several heartbeats neither of them said anything. Then she looked away over his head-his mother was tall and strong-watching Dad load up the pack horses down the track. Badge was her youngest child and the one she secretly loved the best of her three; he was the last to leave home in search of knowledge.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Emigrated to Tasmania, Australia in 1912. The family settled in the rural community of Bagdad in 1914. Chauncy died of cancer in 1970.

Reviews

[Heather Boundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a step back into my childhood, having first read this book over 60 years ago. Nan Chauncy knows and loves the Tasmanian wilderness, and this simple story of a family surviving in a remote valley in the forties has a charm and reality of it's own. I'm not sure how the colloquial Aussie slang would translate into other countries and languages but it was lovely to read this again. A bit like Famous Five go to Tasmania!

[Heather Ummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuation of, “Tiger in the Bush.“ I think I enjoyed this one more than the first, although the first is definitely necessary. I read them together in one book. Devil’s Hill has the classic city boy/country boy tale and also encourages a strong work ethic.