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A New Australian
Bridget : a new Australian
Bridget’s family has been turned out of their home during the Irish potato famine and their only refuge is the workhouse where living conditions are hard and freezing and the food sparse. There is one chance for Bridget and her sister - to take a ship to a new country and become Australians. But will they survive the journey, let alone the challenges that await them in a far away land?
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
5 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
James Moloney
54 books193 followersMy full name is James Francis Moloney and I was born in Sydney, Australia on 20 September, 1954. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Brisbane and except for the odd year or two, I have lived in Brisbane ever since. At school, I was into every sport going - cricket, footy, swimming - you name it. It's hard to believe now but in High School, I was a champion Long Jumper! After University I became a teacher and then a Teacher Librarian. I moved around from school to school and in 1977-8 found myself in Cunnamulla, a little "outback" town where many Indigenous Australians live. These turned out to be important years for my writing.
In 1980, I look a year's leave, stuffed a backpack full of clothes and went off to see the world. Got to do it, guys! There's so much out there, from things to uplift your spirit to things that make you question the humanity of your fellow man. I stepped over rotting dog carcasses in Mexico city, got all weepy in a roomful of Impressionist paintings and met some fascinating people. Hope you'll do the same one day.
1983 was another big year. I got married and started work at Marist College Ashgrove, an all-boys school in Brisbane, where I stayed for fifteen years. During this time, I became interested in writing for young people, at first using the ideas and experiences gained from my time in Cunnamulla, mixed in with the thinking and wondering I'd done overseas. After my early attempts were rejected, the first of my novels, Crossfire , was published in 1992.
In 1997, my fifth novel for young adults, A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award. At the end of that year, I decided to leave teaching and become a full time writer.
In the mean time, my wife and I have produced three great children, two of whom are currently studying at University. Photos of them to the right, along with my lovely wife, Kate, who has encouraged me along every step of the way.
Now that I have turned my hobby into my job, I have had to develop some other interests. For exercise, I go cycling along the bike paths around Brisbane. I'm also into great books, great food, movies, travelling, learning to speak French and I dabble in a little painting. In recent years Kate and I have spent an extended period in France, cycled through Vietnam and soon we will be off to the USA.
In 1980, I look a year's leave, stuffed a backpack full of clothes and went off to see the world. Got to do it, guys! There's so much out there, from things to uplift your spirit to things that make you question the humanity of your fellow man. I stepped over rotting dog carcasses in Mexico city, got all weepy in a roomful of Impressionist paintings and met some fascinating people. Hope you'll do the same one day.
1983 was another big year. I got married and started work at Marist College Ashgrove, an all-boys school in Brisbane, where I stayed for fifteen years. During this time, I became interested in writing for young people, at first using the ideas and experiences gained from my time in Cunnamulla, mixed in with the thinking and wondering I'd done overseas. After my early attempts were rejected, the first of my novels, Crossfire , was published in 1992.
In 1997, my fifth novel for young adults, A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award. At the end of that year, I decided to leave teaching and become a full time writer.
In the mean time, my wife and I have produced three great children, two of whom are currently studying at University. Photos of them to the right, along with my lovely wife, Kate, who has encouraged me along every step of the way.
Now that I have turned my hobby into my job, I have had to develop some other interests. For exercise, I go cycling along the bike paths around Brisbane. I'm also into great books, great food, movies, travelling, learning to speak French and I dabble in a little painting. In recent years Kate and I have spent an extended period in France, cycled through Vietnam and soon we will be off to the USA.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 15, 2015
Bridget: a new Australian by James Maloney is the story of an Irish girl emigrating to Australia. It begins with the trouble her family has, being poor and evicted from their home, their journey to the workhouse and how a death opens the way for her to migrate to Australia. The problems and adventures don't stop there and halfway through the novel she arrives in Moreton Bay. This story is very well paced and has James Maloney's usual beautiful style: Fear hung around our cottage like a mist the sun couldn't burn away ( p. 13). Bridget, the boldest of her mother's brood, finds she has a gift with horses and manages to carve a life for herself in Northern Australia. I like a well written story, great characters and interesting plot that is hard to leave alone, and Bridget has all three. Bridget: a new Australian is the first of a series about immigrant girls for primary school by Omnibus. They will be a welcomed not only as great reads but as literature that can be used to support the curriculum.
August 15, 2022
Bridget’s family are forced from their home, and the house is destroyed when the landlord wants to run sheep, not have cottier farmers growing potatoes. Potato rot had impoverished families across Ireland with repeated crop failures year after year.
Life on the road became too hard, so the family were forced to go to the workhouse. They could only look forward to endless hard work and barely enough food to stay alive.
When the government was looking for teenage girls to go to Australia, Bridget found herself in a land where a harsh life and difficult choices still plagued her and her sister. Bridget is alone and has to make a life for herself. Her only dream was to work with horses, but that didn’t look likely for a girl.
I enjoyed the historical detail and the strong characters.
Recommended for middle-grade readers.
Life on the road became too hard, so the family were forced to go to the workhouse. They could only look forward to endless hard work and barely enough food to stay alive.
When the government was looking for teenage girls to go to Australia, Bridget found herself in a land where a harsh life and difficult choices still plagued her and her sister. Bridget is alone and has to make a life for herself. Her only dream was to work with horses, but that didn’t look likely for a girl.
I enjoyed the historical detail and the strong characters.
Recommended for middle-grade readers.
October 30, 2016
Bridget is only 11 years old, but she knows her place and when to hold her tongue. Unlike her older sister.
Living in Ireland during the potatoe famine means more than the risk of death by starvation, and eventually Bridget finds herself separated from her mother and brothers in search for a better life.
With her sister she is transported to Sydney town with high hopes of well paid work and a bright future only to discover, on her arrival, she is to be treated not much better than a convict.
Eventually her pent up frustrations can be held back no longer and she lets loose at her mistress. Although this means a run in with the constabulary, it also means she now realises she must take control of her own destiny, with a little help from God - or the fairies.
Written in the first person I found the story fast moving. I enjoy reading historical fiction and this is only the second I've read about the potato famine in Ireland. The treatment of the cottiers in both stories was identical. The characters' destinies vastly different.
This story highlights prejudices during the mid 19th century and I can't help wondering if the human race has advanced much in this regard, other than simply shifting the prejudice to different ethnic groups.
At times I would have loved to know what Bridget's older sister was thinking and what motivated her sometimes selfish actions, but I suppose novels written in the 1st person are at risk of under-developed characters. Still, I enjoyed the book.
This novel is in the junior fiction section.
Living in Ireland during the potatoe famine means more than the risk of death by starvation, and eventually Bridget finds herself separated from her mother and brothers in search for a better life.
With her sister she is transported to Sydney town with high hopes of well paid work and a bright future only to discover, on her arrival, she is to be treated not much better than a convict.
Eventually her pent up frustrations can be held back no longer and she lets loose at her mistress. Although this means a run in with the constabulary, it also means she now realises she must take control of her own destiny, with a little help from God - or the fairies.
Written in the first person I found the story fast moving. I enjoy reading historical fiction and this is only the second I've read about the potato famine in Ireland. The treatment of the cottiers in both stories was identical. The characters' destinies vastly different.
This story highlights prejudices during the mid 19th century and I can't help wondering if the human race has advanced much in this regard, other than simply shifting the prejudice to different ethnic groups.
At times I would have loved to know what Bridget's older sister was thinking and what motivated her sometimes selfish actions, but I suppose novels written in the 1st person are at risk of under-developed characters. Still, I enjoyed the book.
This novel is in the junior fiction section.
September 10, 2024
Evocative writing captures the contrast of Irish and Australian landscapes. A heartening story of how a feisty girl made good of opportunities in her new country.
June 20, 2021
Bridget is about the journey that an Irish girl takes for her family's sake. As she travels over the oceans and seas to a land much dryer, warmer, and more dangerous, she realises that the new land can be just as amazing as her old home in Ireland. Bridget overcomes the fears of losing her family, and is resilient throughout her whole journey. She comes to accept Australia as her home, growing used to the mosquitos, flies and snakes. This book is great because it puts you in the shoes of a migrant. You see Australia through the eyes of a foreigner, how different it can be from their own countries. Through this book, you can imagine how it must be like to migrate and move homes. Along the way, the main character begins to change, becoming more independent and bold. If you have never travelled overseas, or experienced what it may be like to leave your home for a new one, this book will show you what is like.
November 22, 2015
Bridget lives with her family in a little cottage her dad had kept fortified against the weather. She loves horses and dreams of one day being able to work with them.
The potatoes were black in the ground, the Irish famine had hit. The whole family still mourned the loss of her father. The Nelligan family, Bridget's mother, her grandma Nelli, sisters Hannah and Mauve, along with two brothers Liam and Mikey, live in a little cottage that her repaired while he had worked the land. Mauve worked as a scullery maid for the Landlord.
Bridget's world was about to change, the bailiff came and turned her loving family out of their home. Her mother protested, as her own grandma Nellie was elderly and needed to be in a warm environment. Where would they go?
The story is the journey Bridget made, from surviving on the roadside, then going into the workhouse, to taking a chance by going to the other side of the world. The plan was to earn money to send back for the remaining family.
I loved this book. I felt James Moloney had it right. He spoke to a group of students, of various ages at Somerset Literary festival, I was glad to be part of the audience. James explained that he could write from a young girl’s perspective. And he could make it believable. Historic references during the 1848 journey to Morton Bay. The prejudices Catholics suffered in England and the new Colony, made the story all the more real.
The potatoes were black in the ground, the Irish famine had hit. The whole family still mourned the loss of her father. The Nelligan family, Bridget's mother, her grandma Nelli, sisters Hannah and Mauve, along with two brothers Liam and Mikey, live in a little cottage that her repaired while he had worked the land. Mauve worked as a scullery maid for the Landlord.
Bridget's world was about to change, the bailiff came and turned her loving family out of their home. Her mother protested, as her own grandma Nellie was elderly and needed to be in a warm environment. Where would they go?
The story is the journey Bridget made, from surviving on the roadside, then going into the workhouse, to taking a chance by going to the other side of the world. The plan was to earn money to send back for the remaining family.
I loved this book. I felt James Moloney had it right. He spoke to a group of students, of various ages at Somerset Literary festival, I was glad to be part of the audience. James explained that he could write from a young girl’s perspective. And he could make it believable. Historic references during the 1848 journey to Morton Bay. The prejudices Catholics suffered in England and the new Colony, made the story all the more real.
March 18, 2015
One of a series. Tells of the hardship many Irish families faced in the late 1800s. Families were evicted from their homes and forced to separate with the children being sent to the other side of the world. This is the story of Bridget who travels to The colony of Australia with her sister Maeve, hoping to raise enough money to bring her mother and brothers to Australia too. Bridget doesn't want to work inside, she wants to be able to work with horses. Suitable for 10 - 14 year olds.
September 25, 2016
Captivating and clearly told. An insightful and enjoyable look in to Australia's past through the eyes of children who helped create Australia's early social fabric. Part of the A New Australian series. I'll be other titles in this pioneering series soon, here: http://blog.boomerangbooks.com.au/aut...
February 19, 2015
Really enjoyed reading this book, but I was a little surprised how the story was finished. Left me disappointed.
February 22, 2015
I liked this as an easy junior read ... But I'm having issues with endings of books lately ... This seemed too neat perhaps ...
March 14, 2015
The story of a young girl who leaves the desperate poverty of the Irish potato famine to emigrate to colonial Australia with her sister. An easy read suited to children aged 8-12.
April 9, 2015
A great read young and not so young readers.
August 29, 2015
Read for Readers Cup. Well written, with an interesting and information journey for Bridget.
I loved the possibilities for Bridget at the end.
I loved the possibilities for Bridget at the end.
May 17, 2016
The book is an easy read suitable for ages 9 - 11. It gives a good background to Irish immigration in early Australia. It would be a good match for Upper Elementary study of Australian history.
April 10, 2017
The book is AMAZING. It's so good for young readers (10-15) depending on your ability as well.
It is actually the only one I liked out of the whole series.
It is actually the only one I liked out of the whole series.
September 13, 2018
One of my favourite books. But the end was a little bit boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews