The Family at Misrule

The Woolcots #2

by Ethel Turner

The Family at Misrule tells the story of the family five years on, including new baby girl Esther.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Childrens, Australia, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, 19th Century

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1895

About the author

Born in England in 1870, Ethel Turner came to Australia with her mother and sisters when she was 10 years old. She showed a great love of literature while at school and in her late teens launched a literary and social magazine in Sydney with her sister Lilian Turner. Ethel kept diaries for a remarkable 62 years, recording the details of her full and eventful life. In January 1893 she recorded in her diary, "Night started a new story that I shall call Seven Little Australians." Later that year, she finished the book, parcelled it up and sent it off to a publisher in Melbourne. Since then the book has sold over 2 million copies in the English language and has been reprinted over 50 times. It has been translated into at least 11 languages, performed as a stage play, and been made into a film, a BBC television series in 1953, and a 10-episode television series for the ABC in 1973. Ethel Turner went on to write over 40 books in her lifetime, including children's stories, short stories and poems, many of which appeared in the Town and Country journal and in the Sun Herald newspaper. Seven Little Australians has been read and loved by children all over the world, and it has been continuously in print for over 100 years. Ethel Turner died in 1958, leaving as her memorial a book that is now regarded as a classic in children's literature. Her granddaughter Philippa Poole has published a book about her grandmother entitled The Diaries of Ethel Turner.

Reviews

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book. There's a little more sentimentality and moralising here, taking this very much into L.M. Alcott territory. Still good though; and a must-read for anyone who enjoyed Seven Little Australians. I should probably change my rating to 3 stars, but I'm too tenderhearted, and too attached to all the characters.

[Ainsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally was able to get hold of a copy and read this - worth doing, but came to the sad conclusion that the seven little Australians are just not the same without Judy. However, the eldest girl Meg has become quite interesting, and her relationship with Esther, the stepmother only a few years older than herself, is more poignant now that Meg is of marriageable age and in a position to wonder what on earth would have led Esther to marry her (Meg's!) father.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Seven Little Australians, but still very enjoyable. This book is more of a conventional Victorian novel (lots of moral lessons, etc.). I want to read Little Mother Meg now, but none of my local libraries have it and there isn't an e-book available. I'll have to keep my eye out for a reasonably priced used copy. 3 1/2 stars.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

We once again follow the seven little Australians.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read. I just wish that Ethel Turner's books are reprinted! It's so difficult to lay hold of them.

[Katrin V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume - full of melodrama and less Australian setting.

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t really connect with the characters, that is however I didn’t read the first book! Also I found this novel pretty boring.

[Ange · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the second Woolcot book we come back to visit the family 5 years after the end of Seven Little Australians. There is a new baby in the family and all the other children are growing up. Captain and Mrs Woolcot are largely absent, since they are travelling in India. Eldest sister, Meg, newly engaged to be married, is left to supervise the family during this period, and certainly she has her hands full, with a runaway and scarlet fever just two of the things she has to contend with. This is a much more sentimental and melodramatic novel than its predecessor, and is consequently more dated in style. The dialogue is sometimes grating, especially the constant lisping of the smaller children. The story has shades of familiarity with Little Women and it's more moralising than Seven Little Australians. While some of the Woolcots are still "naughty", some of their rough edges, and with that, their charm, have been smoothed over. Still, it's nice to catch up with these children and perhaps the strong affection developed for them in the first novel of the series is enough to warrant reading The Family at Misrule.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

After ‘Seven Little Australians’, this was disappointing. I gave it a good go, but stopped reading. It just seemed to be full of bratty, unsupervised, squabbling children. The children in the first book were naughty, but it was balanced with charm & humour. Also, it’s hard enough to remember who’s who with seven names, without some of them having two different names. I’ll stick with the first book.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story quite a bit more than Seven Little Australians, probably because the father is not in it as much. The ending doesn't seem as rushed also. A little bothering is the family's snubbing of lower class people and new money people.

[Noah Melser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continues the story of family from seven little Australians. Focuses on the domestic drama of the family. Best when it goes into the little bit of sadness and emptiness. Mostly confined to the house with only fleeting glimpses of landscape and weather but still enjoyable.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacking the emotional counterpunch of Seven Little Australians, this continuation of the Woolcots' story is nonetheless charming and I found it enjoyable as a girl and enjoyable now.

[Kathryn Pulman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of Harlequin Books' reading challenge - a young adult book.

Didn't enjoy it as much as Seven Little Australians. I found the lisping speech quite painful to read!

[Jennie O'bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as Seven Little Australians but a quick bit of nostalgia while travelling.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Family at Misrule is the second of the Woolcot Family series by Australian novelist Ethel Turner. It is set five years after Seven Little Australians, so Meg is 21 and all the other children also five years older. Once again there are seven children, as Captain Woolcot and Esther have had a daughter, now referred to as Baby, but actually Esther (Essie), who is almost 3. Pip is at University, Meg is stepping out with Alan Courtney who is a newly qualified doctor, Nellie is 15 and impatient to be allowed more. Bunty is at school where he is called John, the former Baby (Winifred) is now called Poppet and The General, now 6, is called Peter or sometimes Rupert. Meg gets engaged, Pip almost gets engaged, Nellie succumbs to the flattery of unsuitable neighbours, Bunty runs away and the Captain and Esther go to India. This book was written in 1895 when standing in society was very important and a self-made man was held in contempt by the gentility, something that seems quite foreign in today’s Australia. This was a time when people used ink bottles, wrote letters and occasionally sent telegrams, travelled abroad by ship, to town by train and almost everywhere else on foot; people darned clothing and hosiery, boys ran away to sea as cabin boys, and Scarlet Fever was often fatal. There seemed to be quite a lot of snobbery at this time: the nouveau riche neighbours were avoided, referred to as “impossible”, and described as homely, uneducated, vulgar and pretentious. The lesson Turner conveys seems to be that association with the lower classes can lead to catching a potentially fatal communicable disease. Poppet is the stand-out favourite from my point of view. Not as good as the first in the series, but still enjoyable and imformative.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues the adventures of our “Australians” who are no longer all that little. What I like about these stories are that while they are stories of children (and rather naughty ones), they are of children who are very real and who one can identify with. For them, life is not all smooth, they have adjustment issues, face bullies, peer pressure (of the late 1800s), are rebellious teenagers (in a fairly mild sense, though), aren’t always understood by their families but come out of these situations different (better and wiser), people. The end once again tends towards the dramatic and one incident again seemed somewhat unnecessary.

[Lizbet · Rating 3 out of 5]

My great uncle had a garage full of old books that he wanted to get rid of. There was a whole set of first edition, hard-cover Ethel Turners complete with dust covers and I decided that, even if I didn't want to read them, they'd look good in my book case. They're snobbish nonsense of course, but I started reading and had to finish it. I actually think that I'd already read it. I'll have to go back and read Seven Little Australians now.

[Charise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books! Other reviews have said it over moralises but I didn't find it heavy handed especially when you consider when it was written. I love that the children are not perfect, every one of them has clear flaws and they act like regular brothers and sisters.
I always have to set aside this book for when I have a few free hours because once I start I can't stop until I've read the entire thing.

[Laura Walin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel did not quite manage to catch the lightness and magical realism of the first part, but was still a very enjoyable reading. Somehow this part felt more like putting individual scenes together rather than telling a story. However, the family of seven children continues its life on the Australian countryside, parents taking six months off to India.

[Georgia]

Loved this - maybe even better than the first! Read Seven Little Australians first though

[Hanna Svensson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andra delen var också så bra! Visst förgången kvinnosyn, men visst anas lite ironi ibland! Också intressant med inblick i hantering av pandemier, i detta fall scharlakansfeber. Hygien och isolering, med en smitta som kunde föras vidare av någon som inte var sjuk. Känns igen från dagens corona!

[Lisa Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely story about the same family of children as in The Seven Little Australians".

[joanne barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy read