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The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls
The war is over, but her fight for a new life in Australia is about to begin…
1954: When sixteen-year-old Hungarian Elizabeta arrives in Australia with her family, she is hoping to escape the hopelessness of life as a refugee in post-war Germany, a life where every day was lived in fear.
Her first stop is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria, a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all looking for work and a better life. There, Elizabeta becomes firm friends with the feisty Greek Vasiliki; quiet Italian Iliana; and the adventurous Frances, the daughter of the camp's director.
In this vibrant and growing country, the Bonegilla girls rush together towards a life that seems full of promise, even as they cope with the legacy of war, the oppressive nature of family tradition and ever-present sorrow. So when a ghost from the past reaches out for Elizabeta and threatens to pull her back into the shadows, there is nothing that her friends wouldn't do to keep her safe: no action too extreme, no confidence too dark.
But secrets have a way of making themselves known and lies have a way of changing everything they touch. Can the Bonegilla girls defeat their past? Or has it finally come to claim them?
1954: When sixteen-year-old Hungarian Elizabeta arrives in Australia with her family, she is hoping to escape the hopelessness of life as a refugee in post-war Germany, a life where every day was lived in fear.
Her first stop is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria, a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all looking for work and a better life. There, Elizabeta becomes firm friends with the feisty Greek Vasiliki; quiet Italian Iliana; and the adventurous Frances, the daughter of the camp's director.
In this vibrant and growing country, the Bonegilla girls rush together towards a life that seems full of promise, even as they cope with the legacy of war, the oppressive nature of family tradition and ever-present sorrow. So when a ghost from the past reaches out for Elizabeta and threatens to pull her back into the shadows, there is nothing that her friends wouldn't do to keep her safe: no action too extreme, no confidence too dark.
But secrets have a way of making themselves known and lies have a way of changing everything they touch. Can the Bonegilla girls defeat their past? Or has it finally come to claim them?
432 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2018
100 people are currently reading
799 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Purman
39 books430 followersVictoria Purman is an Australian bestselling author.
If you want to know more about her and her books, visit www.victoriapurman.com or follow her on facebook at Victoria Purman Author or on twitter @VictoriaPurman.
If you want to know more about her and her books, visit www.victoriapurman.com or follow her on facebook at Victoria Purman Author or on twitter @VictoriaPurman.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 172 reviews
June 12, 2018
Straight down the middle on this one as I liked some things about it but not others.
The good:
I liked the historical feel of the story and the setting.
I thought the author did a good job in setting up the atmosphere of Australia at that time and the attitudes towards immigrants.
I felt that the author had done a lot of hard work in gathering all the information and also including her own personal connection with the story.
The not so good:
There were just too many characters with back stories and I felt I was working too hard trying to follow. Maybe I just was not in the right mood.
Occasionally I felt the author was trying to pack all her available facts into the story at the expense of its cohesiveness.
Finally it felt like a romance and dealt a little too lightly with what were very serious issues.
A light entertaining read though. Three stars from me.
The good:
I liked the historical feel of the story and the setting.
I thought the author did a good job in setting up the atmosphere of Australia at that time and the attitudes towards immigrants.
I felt that the author had done a lot of hard work in gathering all the information and also including her own personal connection with the story.
The not so good:
There were just too many characters with back stories and I felt I was working too hard trying to follow. Maybe I just was not in the right mood.
Occasionally I felt the author was trying to pack all her available facts into the story at the expense of its cohesiveness.
Finally it felt like a romance and dealt a little too lightly with what were very serious issues.
A light entertaining read though. Three stars from me.
April 14, 2018
The long journey across land and ocean, then land again saw sixteen-year-old Elizabeta, her parents and little sister arrive at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in rural Victoria, which would be their home until Elizabeta’s father found work and they could then join him. It was 1954 and there were many new Australians entering the country – Hungarians (which Elizabeta and her family were) Greeks, Italians and others for a new life. The hardship they had all encountered during the war, and the trauma of leaving their families far behind affected them all. But Australia was a new country; a new life for them.
Elizabeta soon met Frances, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the camp director, and along with two other young women, Italian Iliana and Greek Vasiliki, the four became fast and firm friends. Their friendship would last a lifetime although they each went different ways – Elizabeta and her family to Adelaide, Iliana and her family to Cooma, Frances to Sydney to train as a teacher and Vasiliki and her family to Melbourne.
The ways of the old country continued with it causing heartache to more than one of the girls. As the years flew by and their children grew, the secrets were buried deeply, their owners determined not to let them escape. But was it possible to keep dark secrets hidden for that long; over that many years? The Bonegilla girls' reunions were a joy, but could they be a heartache as well?
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful historical fiction novel by Aussie author Victoria Purman. The author’s notes at the end of the novel are full of interest; learning this novel (although fiction) is based in part on the experiences of her own family, plus much more information, was special. I loved the characters of the four girls; the strength and resilience they showed throughout the story and their ongoing support for each other. All in all, an excellent novel and I hope the author continues to write historical fiction. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.
Elizabeta soon met Frances, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the camp director, and along with two other young women, Italian Iliana and Greek Vasiliki, the four became fast and firm friends. Their friendship would last a lifetime although they each went different ways – Elizabeta and her family to Adelaide, Iliana and her family to Cooma, Frances to Sydney to train as a teacher and Vasiliki and her family to Melbourne.
The ways of the old country continued with it causing heartache to more than one of the girls. As the years flew by and their children grew, the secrets were buried deeply, their owners determined not to let them escape. But was it possible to keep dark secrets hidden for that long; over that many years? The Bonegilla girls' reunions were a joy, but could they be a heartache as well?
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful historical fiction novel by Aussie author Victoria Purman. The author’s notes at the end of the novel are full of interest; learning this novel (although fiction) is based in part on the experiences of her own family, plus much more information, was special. I loved the characters of the four girls; the strength and resilience they showed throughout the story and their ongoing support for each other. All in all, an excellent novel and I hope the author continues to write historical fiction. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.
May 20, 2018
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
4.5 stars
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a brand new novel from established South Australian author Victoria Purman. In her latest, Purman situates her story on Bonegilla, a migrant camp situated in rural Victoria. She highlights an important segment of our modern history in Australia, the arrival of migrants from across the world, who helped to create the very fabric of our nation today. It is also a story told directly from the heart, as Purman’s own family laid down their roots in Australia by passing through the gates of Bonegilla in order to forge a new life in the land of opportunity.
Opening in the year 1954, Elizabeta, a sixteen year old Hungarian girl arrives with her family in Australia from war torn Europe, hoping for a new life in a new country. Elizabeta and her family’s first experience of Australia is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp, located near the banks of the Murray River in rural Victoria. Bonegilla is the first stop for hundreds who arrive on Australia’s shores. It is here that Elizabeta forges a relationship with three other girls, of which she will carry with her for a lifetime. There is a Greek girl named Vasiliki, an Italian girl named Iliana and Frances, the daughter of the camp’s director. The foursome negotiate many changes during their time at Bonegilla and afterwards. The shadow of war follows them, along with sacrifice and entrenched family traditions. A secret each girl has transforms their very being and tests them to their very own limits. The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful ode to the bonds of female friendship and the composition of our country.
Last year, Victoria Purman wowed me with her historical fiction novel, The Three Miss Allens. Purman ventures again into historical fiction territory, but her latest novel, The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, takes more of a modern history angle of our country. It is humbling to see Purman branch further afield and set her latest novel primarily around the rural location of Bonegilla, a migrant camp in Victoria. This is a novel with a clear personal history angle and I enjoyed my experience of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls.
Purman utilises alternating character points of view in the chapters of her novel to express her story. As this book is based on the friendship circle of four very different women, the shifting character voices approach used by Purman allows the reader to develop an understanding of each individual character, their family, hopes, dreams and customs. As a result the characterisation in this novel comes across as colourful and varied. It also allows the reader to share their empathy for each character around. I also didn’t have to play favourites!
The aspects of the novel that I appreciated the most were the echoes to the past. With the book set in 1954 and following on through the decades to the present day, there is plenty of ground to cover. Purman sets her scene well, outlining the moral codes, social changes and world events of the time. I loved the rich sense of nostalgia I got from the book. I also appreciated the language references in the novel, which was authentic but sometimes quite saddening how racist we were to new Australians. Perhaps this aspect of the novel has a bit to say about our treatment of new migrants today, as much as in the past.
The scenes based in Bonegilla itself were fascinating and obviously thoroughly researched by Purman. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were more curious readers out there such as myself, who will be inspired to do some more digging and find out more about Bonegilla and the thousands that passed through this migrant centre. I hope to one day make the trek over from the west to the east to experience this historically interesting locale firsthand.
Readers will find this is novel has a light and accessible touch. There are moments of joy and happiness, through romance, love, marriages and births, but there are also moments of despair. Scenes of great sadness, heartbreak, loss, missed opportunities, things left unsaid and sacrifices made for the purpose of family duty define many parts of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls. It will be sure to draw a mixed bag of emotions from any reader that selects this novel to read.
The best stories are those drawn from personal experience as they hold meaning, with the writer at the heart of the tale injecting something very special into their novel. I got this feeling from The Last of the Bonegilla Girls. I also connected to this novel on a personal level as my own family’s background is linked to the migrant experience in Perth, some ten years later than the Bonegilla Girls experience, but it still gives this particular novel brevity and personal connection.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful ode to the bonds of female friendship and the composition of our country. Overall, this is one novel that ticks all my boxes, a great read!
*Please note that a free copy of this book was provided to me for review purposes through Beauty and Lace and HQ Fiction. To read the original review on the Beauty and Lace website please visit here: http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/boo...
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is book #51 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge
4.5 stars
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a brand new novel from established South Australian author Victoria Purman. In her latest, Purman situates her story on Bonegilla, a migrant camp situated in rural Victoria. She highlights an important segment of our modern history in Australia, the arrival of migrants from across the world, who helped to create the very fabric of our nation today. It is also a story told directly from the heart, as Purman’s own family laid down their roots in Australia by passing through the gates of Bonegilla in order to forge a new life in the land of opportunity.
Opening in the year 1954, Elizabeta, a sixteen year old Hungarian girl arrives with her family in Australia from war torn Europe, hoping for a new life in a new country. Elizabeta and her family’s first experience of Australia is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp, located near the banks of the Murray River in rural Victoria. Bonegilla is the first stop for hundreds who arrive on Australia’s shores. It is here that Elizabeta forges a relationship with three other girls, of which she will carry with her for a lifetime. There is a Greek girl named Vasiliki, an Italian girl named Iliana and Frances, the daughter of the camp’s director. The foursome negotiate many changes during their time at Bonegilla and afterwards. The shadow of war follows them, along with sacrifice and entrenched family traditions. A secret each girl has transforms their very being and tests them to their very own limits. The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful ode to the bonds of female friendship and the composition of our country.
Last year, Victoria Purman wowed me with her historical fiction novel, The Three Miss Allens. Purman ventures again into historical fiction territory, but her latest novel, The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, takes more of a modern history angle of our country. It is humbling to see Purman branch further afield and set her latest novel primarily around the rural location of Bonegilla, a migrant camp in Victoria. This is a novel with a clear personal history angle and I enjoyed my experience of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls.
Purman utilises alternating character points of view in the chapters of her novel to express her story. As this book is based on the friendship circle of four very different women, the shifting character voices approach used by Purman allows the reader to develop an understanding of each individual character, their family, hopes, dreams and customs. As a result the characterisation in this novel comes across as colourful and varied. It also allows the reader to share their empathy for each character around. I also didn’t have to play favourites!
The aspects of the novel that I appreciated the most were the echoes to the past. With the book set in 1954 and following on through the decades to the present day, there is plenty of ground to cover. Purman sets her scene well, outlining the moral codes, social changes and world events of the time. I loved the rich sense of nostalgia I got from the book. I also appreciated the language references in the novel, which was authentic but sometimes quite saddening how racist we were to new Australians. Perhaps this aspect of the novel has a bit to say about our treatment of new migrants today, as much as in the past.
The scenes based in Bonegilla itself were fascinating and obviously thoroughly researched by Purman. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were more curious readers out there such as myself, who will be inspired to do some more digging and find out more about Bonegilla and the thousands that passed through this migrant centre. I hope to one day make the trek over from the west to the east to experience this historically interesting locale firsthand.
Readers will find this is novel has a light and accessible touch. There are moments of joy and happiness, through romance, love, marriages and births, but there are also moments of despair. Scenes of great sadness, heartbreak, loss, missed opportunities, things left unsaid and sacrifices made for the purpose of family duty define many parts of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls. It will be sure to draw a mixed bag of emotions from any reader that selects this novel to read.
The best stories are those drawn from personal experience as they hold meaning, with the writer at the heart of the tale injecting something very special into their novel. I got this feeling from The Last of the Bonegilla Girls. I also connected to this novel on a personal level as my own family’s background is linked to the migrant experience in Perth, some ten years later than the Bonegilla Girls experience, but it still gives this particular novel brevity and personal connection.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is a wonderful ode to the bonds of female friendship and the composition of our country. Overall, this is one novel that ticks all my boxes, a great read!
*Please note that a free copy of this book was provided to me for review purposes through Beauty and Lace and HQ Fiction. To read the original review on the Beauty and Lace website please visit here: http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/boo...
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is book #51 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge
August 20, 2024
”Bonegilla was full of people, but it was full of ghosts, too.”
As the child of immigrant parents, this book really holds a special place in my heart. I can hardly imagine how difficult it would be to arrive in an unknown land literally on the other side of the world with two suitcases and young children in tow, one being a babe in arms. Yet that’s what my parents did. As did countless others, such as the families in this story.
”And what did that really mean? To feel Australian?”
It’s 1954 and Australia is still a young country with more jobs available than there are workers to do them. Many young men never returned from WWII and there was a huge labour shortage. Major works such as the Snowy Mountains (Hydro Electric) Scheme were underway and needed workers. There were also plentiful factory, mining and other physically demanding jobs waiting to be filled, often as the locals didn't want to tackle those types of work.
Europe was still recovering from WWII with many countries having been altered with changed borders and many people no longer had a place to call home. Or if they did, poverty was rife. Many made the brave decision to take a chance with the opportunities on offer to start a new life and to provide better for their families.
The Bonegilla Migrant Camp is a real place (which incidentally you can still visit today). Set along the banks of the Murray River in country Victoria, this is where the friendship of Frances, Elizabeta, Vasiliki and Iliana begins. Each of them is in their mid teens. Frances is the daughter of the camp’s director and fascinated by the wide world beyond the parameters of her home. The other three have arrived with their families (from Hungary, Greece and Italy), and have little to no knowledge of how to speak English or of Australian customs and food.
The book clearly shows what a culture shock it was for immigrants arriving in Australia, as it was a very different place in the 1950s to what it’s like now. Australians still identified with being British and often viewed the new arrivals with open suspicion and disdain. The camp was a temporary home until the migrating families found work, with the men often leaving first to settle into work, sending for the rest of the family after.
Elizabeta, Vasiliki and Iliana’s backstories are told, and you realise that even so long after the war ended, people continued to carry secrets and ghosts around with them. Trauma is not something easily shaken off, and peacetime doesn’t necessarily provide peace. As their families scatter across the country, we follow each of them as they try to settle in and have the dilemma of maintaining the customs and traditions of their culture versus wanting to fit in and experience the freedoms that Australian women seemed to have.
The story travels through many decades, yet somehow the friendship of the Bonegilla girls continues. They support each other through unrequited love, duty, marriage, divorce and watching their own daughters grow up. We see the slow change of women’s rights and place in society.
I have to admit to tearing up at the end, as it’s such a wonderful circle of life story, where you think about how much many people live through and accomplish.
This is a beautiful book that tells the migrant’s story clearly and honestly. I enjoy Victoria Purman’s books so much as they always provide an interesting female perspective of the Australian story. With each of her books that I’ve read I learn something new about our history which I didn’t have much knowledge of.
A must read for anyone interested in women’s history in Oz. Five very warm, heartfelt stars ⭐
As the child of immigrant parents, this book really holds a special place in my heart. I can hardly imagine how difficult it would be to arrive in an unknown land literally on the other side of the world with two suitcases and young children in tow, one being a babe in arms. Yet that’s what my parents did. As did countless others, such as the families in this story.
”And what did that really mean? To feel Australian?”
It’s 1954 and Australia is still a young country with more jobs available than there are workers to do them. Many young men never returned from WWII and there was a huge labour shortage. Major works such as the Snowy Mountains (Hydro Electric) Scheme were underway and needed workers. There were also plentiful factory, mining and other physically demanding jobs waiting to be filled, often as the locals didn't want to tackle those types of work.
Europe was still recovering from WWII with many countries having been altered with changed borders and many people no longer had a place to call home. Or if they did, poverty was rife. Many made the brave decision to take a chance with the opportunities on offer to start a new life and to provide better for their families.
The Bonegilla Migrant Camp is a real place (which incidentally you can still visit today). Set along the banks of the Murray River in country Victoria, this is where the friendship of Frances, Elizabeta, Vasiliki and Iliana begins. Each of them is in their mid teens. Frances is the daughter of the camp’s director and fascinated by the wide world beyond the parameters of her home. The other three have arrived with their families (from Hungary, Greece and Italy), and have little to no knowledge of how to speak English or of Australian customs and food.
The book clearly shows what a culture shock it was for immigrants arriving in Australia, as it was a very different place in the 1950s to what it’s like now. Australians still identified with being British and often viewed the new arrivals with open suspicion and disdain. The camp was a temporary home until the migrating families found work, with the men often leaving first to settle into work, sending for the rest of the family after.
Elizabeta, Vasiliki and Iliana’s backstories are told, and you realise that even so long after the war ended, people continued to carry secrets and ghosts around with them. Trauma is not something easily shaken off, and peacetime doesn’t necessarily provide peace. As their families scatter across the country, we follow each of them as they try to settle in and have the dilemma of maintaining the customs and traditions of their culture versus wanting to fit in and experience the freedoms that Australian women seemed to have.
The story travels through many decades, yet somehow the friendship of the Bonegilla girls continues. They support each other through unrequited love, duty, marriage, divorce and watching their own daughters grow up. We see the slow change of women’s rights and place in society.
I have to admit to tearing up at the end, as it’s such a wonderful circle of life story, where you think about how much many people live through and accomplish.
This is a beautiful book that tells the migrant’s story clearly and honestly. I enjoy Victoria Purman’s books so much as they always provide an interesting female perspective of the Australian story. With each of her books that I’ve read I learn something new about our history which I didn’t have much knowledge of.
A must read for anyone interested in women’s history in Oz. Five very warm, heartfelt stars ⭐
August 28, 2018
I am totally the wrong audience for this book. I found the writing too detailed in minor historical details, overly introspective characters and what seems to be targeted at an almost juvenile reader. Of course, again, I am at the other end of the spectrum here and many love this book and it has a very high overall rating of 4.1 on GR so I guess you just need to be your own judge on this one. I thought the end 20% or so were the stronger parts for me, but I think that the narration matured as the Bonegilla girls did, so it no longer felt like YA.
3 stars.
3 stars.
June 21, 2018
Social history is my greatest area of interest, so it stands to reason that any novel that explores this will be an instant hit with me. And so it is with The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, a novel about Australia’s immigration history at the time of the post WWII White Australia Policy of ‘populate or perish’. But as well as being of interest to me from an historical point of view, this story interested me on a personal level. My maternal family migrated to Australia from Belgium in 1961, when my mother was 4. They arrived into Victoria, and while I am uncertain on whether they first lived at Bonegilla (I am still currently undertaking searches on this but the immigration department moves rather slowly), their experiences as new Australians certainly mimicked many aspects of the lives of the young women within this story. I grew up in a bilingual household and attended a migrant catholic primary school. We learnt to speak Italian because it was the next most used language after English in that area. Flemish was spoken at home in a curious mix with English and we ate food that came from Dutch supermarkets in Melbourne and socialised frequently with other Belgian migrants, people who had ‘come over on the same boat’ as my grandfather used to say. My grandparents were new Australians, and being very ‘white’ in appearance and speaking English that was not tainted by a heavy accent, they passed themselves off fairly well, and yet, they still kept themselves Belgian at home; it was important to them, and subsequently, it became important to us. My experiences outlined here are not all that unusual. We are a nation of migrants, and so many of us don’t need to go many generations back to confirm this.
What I really loved about this novel, above all else, was how it is such a conversation starter about racism within this country. “Why can’t they just speak English?” “Job stealing reffos.” For German and Italian migrants, the inference that they were Nazis and Fascists was ever present. Australians like to think of themselves as egalitarian, yet we have an intergenerational culture of casual racism that seems to be hanging around us like a permanent stink – the inference that if a person is ‘other’ then they don’t belong here and should stop taking jobs from the ‘real Australians’ and go back to where they came from if they ‘don’t want to speak English’. Because yes, I’m so certain that the ‘real Australians’ were just busting to do the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, just as the ‘real Australians’ were lining up two deep to cut cane by hand on the Queensland cane fields. On that note, a couple of years back, I visited the Snowy Mountains Hydro Discovery Centre and it was an absolute treasure trove of migrant history, I highly recommend checking it out if you are ever up that way. I loved reading the sections within this novel about Iliana’s family living and working there as I could picture it all so well.
One in twenty Australians have links to Bonegilla through migration of the post-war era. Between 1945 and 1975, more that three million refugees and migrants came to Australia, almost doubling Australia’s population. – Author notes
A lot of attention is given within this novel to the migrant experience on an individual level. The psychological effects of having lived through the horror of war and then the upheaval of displacement and relocation into a foreign, and sometimes hostile, new country. In particular, Elizabeta’s mother and her struggles with assimilation against a background of depression and anger. I really felt for her, she had endured so much and her situation was an excellent example of the ‘extra baggage’ migrants and refugees were forced to bring with them to their new country. Some migrants fared better than others and I do think that had a lot to so with their country of origin and the support networks they were able to build up around them. As demonstrated within this novel, Iliana and Vasiliki had vast family networks to surround them, being Italian and Greek, as opposed to Elizabeta, whose family was fairly isolated and often ostracised on account of being perceived as German (they were actually German speaking Hungarians). Following these women over such an extensive period of time was enlightening as we were able to see how ‘Australian’ they became and how their experiences influenced the lives of their children and grandchildren. With each generation, the cultural ties loosened.
The friendship element of this story was lovely, really positive and uplifting. These girls formed a relationship with each other based on being fellow human beings, irrespective of cultural origins. They found ways around their communication barriers and worked with what they had to form solid bonds. They are an example of what is possible when we see each other for who we are, not where we come from. Highest praise to Victoria Purman for putting this out there. There’s a lot of sadness within this story, a lot of truth, and a lot to love. I do enjoy novels that dust out the corners and really get you thinking hard about society. This will be one novel I recommend widely for a long time to come.
What I really loved about this novel, above all else, was how it is such a conversation starter about racism within this country. “Why can’t they just speak English?” “Job stealing reffos.” For German and Italian migrants, the inference that they were Nazis and Fascists was ever present. Australians like to think of themselves as egalitarian, yet we have an intergenerational culture of casual racism that seems to be hanging around us like a permanent stink – the inference that if a person is ‘other’ then they don’t belong here and should stop taking jobs from the ‘real Australians’ and go back to where they came from if they ‘don’t want to speak English’. Because yes, I’m so certain that the ‘real Australians’ were just busting to do the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, just as the ‘real Australians’ were lining up two deep to cut cane by hand on the Queensland cane fields. On that note, a couple of years back, I visited the Snowy Mountains Hydro Discovery Centre and it was an absolute treasure trove of migrant history, I highly recommend checking it out if you are ever up that way. I loved reading the sections within this novel about Iliana’s family living and working there as I could picture it all so well.
One in twenty Australians have links to Bonegilla through migration of the post-war era. Between 1945 and 1975, more that three million refugees and migrants came to Australia, almost doubling Australia’s population. – Author notes
A lot of attention is given within this novel to the migrant experience on an individual level. The psychological effects of having lived through the horror of war and then the upheaval of displacement and relocation into a foreign, and sometimes hostile, new country. In particular, Elizabeta’s mother and her struggles with assimilation against a background of depression and anger. I really felt for her, she had endured so much and her situation was an excellent example of the ‘extra baggage’ migrants and refugees were forced to bring with them to their new country. Some migrants fared better than others and I do think that had a lot to so with their country of origin and the support networks they were able to build up around them. As demonstrated within this novel, Iliana and Vasiliki had vast family networks to surround them, being Italian and Greek, as opposed to Elizabeta, whose family was fairly isolated and often ostracised on account of being perceived as German (they were actually German speaking Hungarians). Following these women over such an extensive period of time was enlightening as we were able to see how ‘Australian’ they became and how their experiences influenced the lives of their children and grandchildren. With each generation, the cultural ties loosened.
The friendship element of this story was lovely, really positive and uplifting. These girls formed a relationship with each other based on being fellow human beings, irrespective of cultural origins. They found ways around their communication barriers and worked with what they had to form solid bonds. They are an example of what is possible when we see each other for who we are, not where we come from. Highest praise to Victoria Purman for putting this out there. There’s a lot of sadness within this story, a lot of truth, and a lot to love. I do enjoy novels that dust out the corners and really get you thinking hard about society. This will be one novel I recommend widely for a long time to come.
October 21, 2020
Three and a half stars
The story starts in 1954 as 16 year old Elizabeta and her Hungarian family arrive in Australia. They are hoping for a very different life after being refugees in post war Germany. They arrive in Bonegilla Migrant Camp, situated on the banks of the Murray in rural Vitoria. Bonegilla is a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all seeking a better life and work in Australia. Frances is the daughter of the camp’s director and she makes friends with Elizabeta, Vasiliki originally from Greece and Iliana from Italy. Despite their paths diverging as their parents find work and the families move to various places around Australia, the friendship remains strong and they manage to keep in touch over the years. But what happens to the friendship when secrets are revealed?
It was interesting to look back at the times of the 1950s up to 2018 to see how things have changed over the years. The attitudes towards those that came from other countries and the derogatory labels attached to them continued to prevail for a lot of years. Sadly, despite the influx of people who have arrived in Australia from other countries, it seems attitudes have not changed as much as we would like to think. It’s just that instead off Italian and Greek people etc. being the object of such racism, it is now those form other countries. It’s also interesting to see how the food has changed over the years as those from other countries introduced their foods into what had previously been a very plain meat and three veg diet.
This historical fiction is a story of friendship, family ties, love and secrets. I enjoyed reading this story, although for a while I admit to having a bit of trouble keeping who was who and their families straight. Maybe that’s more to do with my frame of mind at present. Once I settled with the characters I enjoyed it. I did think some aspects seemed to be repeated too often, like how important the friendship was to them all and harking back to the past. The story seemed to be a bit wordy and dragged a bit in places. So while I enjoyed some aspects, it didn’t quite grab me as much as I expected it to after having read some other reviews. However it was still an enjoyable and a worthwhile read, most especially for shining a spotlight attitudes of the migrant experience and Australian society of the past.
The story starts in 1954 as 16 year old Elizabeta and her Hungarian family arrive in Australia. They are hoping for a very different life after being refugees in post war Germany. They arrive in Bonegilla Migrant Camp, situated on the banks of the Murray in rural Vitoria. Bonegilla is a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all seeking a better life and work in Australia. Frances is the daughter of the camp’s director and she makes friends with Elizabeta, Vasiliki originally from Greece and Iliana from Italy. Despite their paths diverging as their parents find work and the families move to various places around Australia, the friendship remains strong and they manage to keep in touch over the years. But what happens to the friendship when secrets are revealed?
It was interesting to look back at the times of the 1950s up to 2018 to see how things have changed over the years. The attitudes towards those that came from other countries and the derogatory labels attached to them continued to prevail for a lot of years. Sadly, despite the influx of people who have arrived in Australia from other countries, it seems attitudes have not changed as much as we would like to think. It’s just that instead off Italian and Greek people etc. being the object of such racism, it is now those form other countries. It’s also interesting to see how the food has changed over the years as those from other countries introduced their foods into what had previously been a very plain meat and three veg diet.
This historical fiction is a story of friendship, family ties, love and secrets. I enjoyed reading this story, although for a while I admit to having a bit of trouble keeping who was who and their families straight. Maybe that’s more to do with my frame of mind at present. Once I settled with the characters I enjoyed it. I did think some aspects seemed to be repeated too often, like how important the friendship was to them all and harking back to the past. The story seemed to be a bit wordy and dragged a bit in places. So while I enjoyed some aspects, it didn’t quite grab me as much as I expected it to after having read some other reviews. However it was still an enjoyable and a worthwhile read, most especially for shining a spotlight attitudes of the migrant experience and Australian society of the past.
January 10, 2021
4.5 Stars
The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls
This book although fictional is based partly on true experiences of the authors family, it’s a post-World War II story and is set in the 1950’s. At that time families were escaping Europe and looking forward to new opportunities, work and a better life in Australia.
FACT - The Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre was a camp set up for receiving and training migrants to Australia during the post World War II immigration boom. The camp was set on 320 acres near Albury-Wodonga in rural Victoria and was a former Australian Army base. It opened in 1947 and operated until 1971, it received over 300,000 migrants.
The story gives the reader a great insight into how the immigrants felt and the way they were treated. There would be many readers who would relate personally to Bonegilla, especially as it’s estimated that over 1.5 million Australians are descended from migrants who spent time at Bonegilla. Funny enough, I asked my partner if he had heard of Bonegilla and I found out that it was his temporary home when he had first arrived in Australia as a little boy with his family in the 60’s!
This tale follows the lives of four young girls, an Australian, Hungarian, Greek and an Italian who forge a firm friendship during their stay at Bonegilla. The women are so very different to one another as in their backgrounds and the story enables the reader to learn about their strict family customs, their pasts, war memories, dark secrets, their hopes, loves, dreams and heartaches. After moving on from Bonegilla the friendships of the girls last a lifetime as they continue to be part of each others lives.
I found this story to be very interesting, it was well written and totally captivated my attention. At times it was very emotional and you couldn’t help but empathise with how difficult it must of been for these families, especially for the older members who found it hard to change their ways and had the challenges of a different language and culture. It opens your eyes to what some of them went through. I thought this read was a really sensitive and lovely piece on Australian multicultural history.
Thanks Victoria Purman for another great read based on our Australian history.
The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls
This book although fictional is based partly on true experiences of the authors family, it’s a post-World War II story and is set in the 1950’s. At that time families were escaping Europe and looking forward to new opportunities, work and a better life in Australia.
FACT - The Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre was a camp set up for receiving and training migrants to Australia during the post World War II immigration boom. The camp was set on 320 acres near Albury-Wodonga in rural Victoria and was a former Australian Army base. It opened in 1947 and operated until 1971, it received over 300,000 migrants.
The story gives the reader a great insight into how the immigrants felt and the way they were treated. There would be many readers who would relate personally to Bonegilla, especially as it’s estimated that over 1.5 million Australians are descended from migrants who spent time at Bonegilla. Funny enough, I asked my partner if he had heard of Bonegilla and I found out that it was his temporary home when he had first arrived in Australia as a little boy with his family in the 60’s!
This tale follows the lives of four young girls, an Australian, Hungarian, Greek and an Italian who forge a firm friendship during their stay at Bonegilla. The women are so very different to one another as in their backgrounds and the story enables the reader to learn about their strict family customs, their pasts, war memories, dark secrets, their hopes, loves, dreams and heartaches. After moving on from Bonegilla the friendships of the girls last a lifetime as they continue to be part of each others lives.
I found this story to be very interesting, it was well written and totally captivated my attention. At times it was very emotional and you couldn’t help but empathise with how difficult it must of been for these families, especially for the older members who found it hard to change their ways and had the challenges of a different language and culture. It opens your eyes to what some of them went through. I thought this read was a really sensitive and lovely piece on Australian multicultural history.
Thanks Victoria Purman for another great read based on our Australian history.
May 3, 2018
A sensitive, insightful and sometimes heartbreaking look at Australia's multicultural history that kept me entranced.
Complete review to follow.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is another new direction for Purman and it’s one she navigated with finesse and style, it is a work of fiction inspired by her own family heritage and knowing that going in kept me thinking throughout.
I want to call this an historical fiction but I don’t think it is quite long ago enough to fit that category. It is certainly an insightful and interesting look at a different era in Australian history, and one that is fascinating.
I have read and loved Purman’s work since her debut and I think I have read everything she’s released (except one of the novellas which I am still getting to, I think I did buy it in the end but I just haven’t got there yet). The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is no exception though it did strike me that the setting was very different to the rest of her print novels in that it isn’t set on the South Australian coastline, instead it is set in the Bonegilla migrant camp in rural Victoria.
I think The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is quite a timely release because there are many people coming to Australia for a fresh start and they aren’t always being welcomed. The Last of the Bonegilla Girls reminds us that this isn’t the first time Australia has welcomed other cultures to build a new life here, and that a large percentage of Australians have migrant histories. It is also a study in taking the correct channels to start a new life here.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls brings together four girls from very different backgrounds into a friendship that will last a lifetime. It spans decades, generations and a wealth of emotions. Purman has created complex and courageous characters that you can’t help but empathise with. The story focuses on the teenaged daughters embarking on new lives but it also explores their parents and siblings.
Complete review can be found at http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/boo...
Complete review to follow.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is another new direction for Purman and it’s one she navigated with finesse and style, it is a work of fiction inspired by her own family heritage and knowing that going in kept me thinking throughout.
I want to call this an historical fiction but I don’t think it is quite long ago enough to fit that category. It is certainly an insightful and interesting look at a different era in Australian history, and one that is fascinating.
I have read and loved Purman’s work since her debut and I think I have read everything she’s released (except one of the novellas which I am still getting to, I think I did buy it in the end but I just haven’t got there yet). The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is no exception though it did strike me that the setting was very different to the rest of her print novels in that it isn’t set on the South Australian coastline, instead it is set in the Bonegilla migrant camp in rural Victoria.
I think The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is quite a timely release because there are many people coming to Australia for a fresh start and they aren’t always being welcomed. The Last of the Bonegilla Girls reminds us that this isn’t the first time Australia has welcomed other cultures to build a new life here, and that a large percentage of Australians have migrant histories. It is also a study in taking the correct channels to start a new life here.
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls brings together four girls from very different backgrounds into a friendship that will last a lifetime. It spans decades, generations and a wealth of emotions. Purman has created complex and courageous characters that you can’t help but empathise with. The story focuses on the teenaged daughters embarking on new lives but it also explores their parents and siblings.
Complete review can be found at http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/boo...
August 19, 2018
I really really wanted to love this book as I was a Bonegilla girl too, well, actually a Bonegilla toddler. My parents migrated to Australia from Germany in 1966 and their first stop was the Bonegilla Migrant Camp. Our stay wasn’t a long one but my parents enjoyed their short stay and were looking forward to making a new life in Australia, and they embraced the Australian way with gusto.
I was a touch disappointed with this novel. There was so much talk about this book, focusing attention on the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on social media I became quite excited and was looking forward to reading a story based only in the Migrant Camp, or so I thought, but instead the book revolved around four Bonegilla girls, their romance, their secrets and lots and lots of drama, which was a bit off putting especially Vasiliki’s secret, a secret she kept to herself - wrong, just so wrong.
So definitely not how I imagined the story to transpire at all. Exploring more of the ins and outs of the Bonegilla Migrant Camp, and a bigger glimpse into the ‘girls’ parents work/job would have been a lot more fascinating and would have made the book feel more authentic, in my opinion anyway.
Here’s a passage that irked me: ‘Those teachers are teaching them how to be Australian.’ Giuseppe turned back to her. ‘How to be Australian? Never. They will always be Italian. And we must always speak Italian to them. Always. They can’t forget our language. Our culture. Our food.’
geez, what an attitude! Thank goodness my parents didn’t force all that on to me!
For anyone thinking the term ‘New Australian’ is politically incorrect, pull your head in. Goodness, we came to a new country we were new and living in Australia, therefore the term New Australian fits perfectly. Too many overly sensitive people these days, me thinks.
#Book Bingo 2018: ‘A book everyone is talking about’ - The Last of the Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman
I was a touch disappointed with this novel. There was so much talk about this book, focusing attention on the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on social media I became quite excited and was looking forward to reading a story based only in the Migrant Camp, or so I thought, but instead the book revolved around four Bonegilla girls, their romance, their secrets and lots and lots of drama, which was a bit off putting especially Vasiliki’s secret, a secret she kept to herself - wrong, just so wrong.
So definitely not how I imagined the story to transpire at all. Exploring more of the ins and outs of the Bonegilla Migrant Camp, and a bigger glimpse into the ‘girls’ parents work/job would have been a lot more fascinating and would have made the book feel more authentic, in my opinion anyway.
Here’s a passage that irked me: ‘Those teachers are teaching them how to be Australian.’ Giuseppe turned back to her. ‘How to be Australian? Never. They will always be Italian. And we must always speak Italian to them. Always. They can’t forget our language. Our culture. Our food.’
geez, what an attitude! Thank goodness my parents didn’t force all that on to me!
For anyone thinking the term ‘New Australian’ is politically incorrect, pull your head in. Goodness, we came to a new country we were new and living in Australia, therefore the term New Australian fits perfectly. Too many overly sensitive people these days, me thinks.
#Book Bingo 2018: ‘A book everyone is talking about’ - The Last of the Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman
August 8, 2025
This is the second time I've read this. I enjoyed it the first time. If possible, I enjoyed it more the second time. The novel follows the post-WW2 emigration to Australia by a German family. They spend time in a migrant facility where they interact with people from a variety of European countries. I have spent a lot of time in the Australian countryside. The author describes it so accurately that I felt I was sitting in the railway carriage. Likewise, the descriptions of Australian life in the 1950s are uncannily accurate. The story depicts the isolation felt by traumatised people from war-torn countries in the challenging environment of a new country.
May 21, 2018
This is an emotional story set across the years from 1954 to 2018 a story of families coming to Australia for a new life but that doesn’t always come easy there are lots of bridges to cross a new language to learn and new foods to get used to, sixteen year olds Elizabeta, Vasiliki, Iliana and Frances come together in this story that endures such strength, love and friendship and such caring for each other, this one had me turning the pages feeling emotional and teary at times but also feeling fortunate to get to know these girls and the joy that they shared, I hope that you will pick this one up and also enjoy their journey.
Elizabeta and her family have arrived from Germany after being taken from their country of Hungry she has a younger sister and this family has struggled since the war and being German can sometimes make it harder for them.
Vasiliki is from a Greek family she is the only daughter, they are hard workers and are looking forward to their new lives but of course giving up the Greek life is not easy for them.
Iliana is Italian again the only daughter with three brothers they too have been through a lot during the war and making the decision to move to Australia is a big one.
Frances is Australian the daughter of the director of Bonegilla Migrant Camp where the families have arrived and Frances sets out to help these girls as much as she can teaching them English and becoming their friend, together they can accomplish much.
This is the story of a bond so strong between four girls from totally different backgrounds that lasts across years, through thick and thin, with years not getting in touch with each other but always knowing that they will be there for each other, there is a lot of heartache in these years, secrets that have been kept and although the girls move to different states the line of contact is always there. Their strength carried throughout, there is love, laughter tragedy, pain but a true friendship, and this is an emotional roller coaster that had me in tears and I am not going to forget this one for a while.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I grew up with a lot of girls from these countries myself and it was hard for them to meld to the Aussie way but still be themselves and I counted a lot of them as my friends, thank you MS Purman for a fabulous story, this is one that I highly recommend.
Elizabeta and her family have arrived from Germany after being taken from their country of Hungry she has a younger sister and this family has struggled since the war and being German can sometimes make it harder for them.
Vasiliki is from a Greek family she is the only daughter, they are hard workers and are looking forward to their new lives but of course giving up the Greek life is not easy for them.
Iliana is Italian again the only daughter with three brothers they too have been through a lot during the war and making the decision to move to Australia is a big one.
Frances is Australian the daughter of the director of Bonegilla Migrant Camp where the families have arrived and Frances sets out to help these girls as much as she can teaching them English and becoming their friend, together they can accomplish much.
This is the story of a bond so strong between four girls from totally different backgrounds that lasts across years, through thick and thin, with years not getting in touch with each other but always knowing that they will be there for each other, there is a lot of heartache in these years, secrets that have been kept and although the girls move to different states the line of contact is always there. Their strength carried throughout, there is love, laughter tragedy, pain but a true friendship, and this is an emotional roller coaster that had me in tears and I am not going to forget this one for a while.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I grew up with a lot of girls from these countries myself and it was hard for them to meld to the Aussie way but still be themselves and I counted a lot of them as my friends, thank you MS Purman for a fabulous story, this is one that I highly recommend.
December 12, 2019
Bonegilla was a post WW2 Migrant camp in Victoria and the first stop for Europeans when they arrived in Australia. They stayed in the camp whilst authorities assisted them to find jobs and housing somewhere in the country. Three young girls - Vasiliki from Greece, Elizabeta, a Hungarian whose family had been forced to live in Germany, and Iliana, from Italy, become friends with a young Australian girl who helps them with their English, Francis, whilst their families are based at the camp. The book follows the lives of the four girls from then.
Obviously there is a lot of drama for each girl throughout. Usually with this style of book, I end up disliking one of the characters and their plot but this time I really enjoyed each girl’s storyline. I don’t really even think I had a favourite or least liked.
I will admit though, given that Purman is traditionally a romance book writer, I found the romantic plotlines a little underdone. I think my biggest problem was that a lot of the details of the romances happened ‘off screen’. Quite often I was reading about some potential romantic subplot of one of the girls and then, the next chapter would have everything resolved and Purman had moved on to a new subplot.
When reading historical novels, it’s always interesting to note how society’s attitudes towards women, marriage, children, and, obviously, migrants has changed so much. Of course it’s always sad to note too how some aspects and attitudes have not changed at all.
My mother, who is in her 80s, is always asking me to recommend her books and I think this is one I could as it seems suitable for all. There are no graphic sex scenes or whatnot.
The story spans several years and I must admit, I shed a tear or two at times.
I will probably try another Purman title.
4 out of 5
Obviously there is a lot of drama for each girl throughout. Usually with this style of book, I end up disliking one of the characters and their plot but this time I really enjoyed each girl’s storyline. I don’t really even think I had a favourite or least liked.
I will admit though, given that Purman is traditionally a romance book writer, I found the romantic plotlines a little underdone. I think my biggest problem was that a lot of the details of the romances happened ‘off screen’. Quite often I was reading about some potential romantic subplot of one of the girls and then, the next chapter would have everything resolved and Purman had moved on to a new subplot.
When reading historical novels, it’s always interesting to note how society’s attitudes towards women, marriage, children, and, obviously, migrants has changed so much. Of course it’s always sad to note too how some aspects and attitudes have not changed at all.
My mother, who is in her 80s, is always asking me to recommend her books and I think this is one I could as it seems suitable for all. There are no graphic sex scenes or whatnot.
The story spans several years and I must admit, I shed a tear or two at times.
I will probably try another Purman title.
4 out of 5
April 13, 2018
This book is very insightful into the lives of our migrants when they first arrived into Australia. We live in a multicultural society and Victoria has done a marvellous job with all the research to portray how these migrants came to live in Australia and to finally call Australia home.
It starts in 1954 after the second world war. Ships full of migrants want a better life arrive in Australia and are sent to Bonegilla camp to start their new lives. This story follows the Elizabeta and her family that have arrived from Germany. Their first home is Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria.
Elizabeta makes good friends while staying at the camp. They are the Vasiliki who is Greek, Iliana who is Italian and Frances who is the camp’s director daughter.
This story is heartbreaking at times and you made shed a tear or two. It has all the family dramas and more. As I read this book it made me think of my own mum who came her from Germany with her mum and started life here in a camp also. The characters in this book make you realise just how hard it really is to leave your life behind in another country and to have to start again. They all tried to keep their family traditions and it was hard for the older members to change their ways.
The story continues as the Bonegilla girls leave the camp with their families and start new lives throughout Australia. They continue to remain friends even though at times it is hard and their lives are pulling them in different directions.
I was left speechless after finishing this book. It is a story that will stay with me from a very long time.
I would highly recommend this book. It is not normally and book that I would read but it had me captivated through the whole book.
Thank you, Victoria, for writing such a superb book.
“One in twenty Australians have links to Bonegilla through migration of the post-war era.”
If you are one on those people, this book is going to make you think more about how your family would have coped through their migration to Australia. I know that I rang my mum to talk to her but she was only two at the time and did not remember much and my nanna passed away many, many years ago but I know that she would not have talked about her past. She kept it all bottled up and her secrets went to the grave with her. Even as a child I remember she would talk German to other German families and friends but she would not talk German to us. As she always said “you are Australian and you speak English not German.” I must admit that I did not get on well with my nanna and I always thought she was a sauerkraut. But this book has opened my eyes more to understand her a little better.
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It starts in 1954 after the second world war. Ships full of migrants want a better life arrive in Australia and are sent to Bonegilla camp to start their new lives. This story follows the Elizabeta and her family that have arrived from Germany. Their first home is Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria.
Elizabeta makes good friends while staying at the camp. They are the Vasiliki who is Greek, Iliana who is Italian and Frances who is the camp’s director daughter.
This story is heartbreaking at times and you made shed a tear or two. It has all the family dramas and more. As I read this book it made me think of my own mum who came her from Germany with her mum and started life here in a camp also. The characters in this book make you realise just how hard it really is to leave your life behind in another country and to have to start again. They all tried to keep their family traditions and it was hard for the older members to change their ways.
The story continues as the Bonegilla girls leave the camp with their families and start new lives throughout Australia. They continue to remain friends even though at times it is hard and their lives are pulling them in different directions.
I was left speechless after finishing this book. It is a story that will stay with me from a very long time.
I would highly recommend this book. It is not normally and book that I would read but it had me captivated through the whole book.
Thank you, Victoria, for writing such a superb book.
“One in twenty Australians have links to Bonegilla through migration of the post-war era.”
If you are one on those people, this book is going to make you think more about how your family would have coped through their migration to Australia. I know that I rang my mum to talk to her but she was only two at the time and did not remember much and my nanna passed away many, many years ago but I know that she would not have talked about her past. She kept it all bottled up and her secrets went to the grave with her. Even as a child I remember she would talk German to other German families and friends but she would not talk German to us. As she always said “you are Australian and you speak English not German.” I must admit that I did not get on well with my nanna and I always thought she was a sauerkraut. But this book has opened my eyes more to understand her a little better.
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July 2, 2018
The Last of The Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman is a story that needed to be written.
Although, fictional ~ it's based around The Bonegilla Migrant Centre and is a story about many different migrants and their lives affected at a temporary home at Bonegilla which was located near the banks of The Murray in north east Victoria, Australia and what happens to each and every character during and after their stay.
Set in Post-war 1954 ~ the story of The Bonegilla Girls held my interest right up until the end.
I really enjoyed this book, it's captivating, interesting, easy-to-read (words just flowed) so, it's well-written.
It's the sort of story you just want to curl up in and not want it to end.
I take my hat off (or beannie) to Victoria Purman for writing this story.
Well Done!
* I recommend this as a great Winter read (it's Winter in the southern hemisphere)
Curl up and tuck yourself inside the pages of The Last of The Bonegilla Girls ~ you won't be disappointed.
* Hear about dances, European food including some of my favourites ~ Cherry Strudel coming fresh out of the oven!
Although, fictional ~ it's based around The Bonegilla Migrant Centre and is a story about many different migrants and their lives affected at a temporary home at Bonegilla which was located near the banks of The Murray in north east Victoria, Australia and what happens to each and every character during and after their stay.
Set in Post-war 1954 ~ the story of The Bonegilla Girls held my interest right up until the end.
I really enjoyed this book, it's captivating, interesting, easy-to-read (words just flowed) so, it's well-written.
It's the sort of story you just want to curl up in and not want it to end.
I take my hat off (or beannie) to Victoria Purman for writing this story.
Well Done!
* I recommend this as a great Winter read (it's Winter in the southern hemisphere)
Curl up and tuck yourself inside the pages of The Last of The Bonegilla Girls ~ you won't be disappointed.
* Hear about dances, European food including some of my favourites ~ Cherry Strudel coming fresh out of the oven!
June 14, 2021
Dear Victoria,
Thank you for writing this book, this story. My grandparents were Ukrainian migrants who were DP's from World War II, they came to Australia in 1949 and were stationed at Bonegilla Migrant Camp. So this story had all the feels.
I loved the develop of friendships between the girls and the narratives of how their lives worked out once their families left Bonegilla, and how they dealt with the changing times throughout the decades.
The way you describe the mini ethnicity based communities between others learning to adjust to the 'Australian Way' was very vivid. I know from the stories from my grandmother this was something they experienced also, they made many friends with fellow Ukrainians who also migrated to Australia. It helped them to adjust and comfort them when they faced prejudice.
I've been to the Bonegilla Museum, for myself I felt like I was walking in my grandparent's steps, it was a very surreal experience to know that they were there. One of the other narratives that hits home for me while I was reading was the story of Luisa getting measles while at the camp, its something my grandmother and uncle (who was 18 months old at the time) would relate too. My uncle had a severe case of measles within the first 3 weeks of arriving to Bonegilla, it was so bad he along with my grandmother and a nurse from the hospital were flown to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne via a flight from Sydney that was diverted to Corowa so they could board (thankfully he recovered), But it was such a stressful time for the grandmother because 3 weeks in and not a lick of English and trying to find out how her baby was... Their story made the newspaper Australia wide, I found the article while going through her photo albums.
The biggest relative moment for me was with one of the character's in the book, where they wished they took the time when they could to ask their grandparent's about their lives, get to know their story more than the small bits. That's how I feel now about my own grandparent's stories, wanting to know more about them before the war, before Australia but never thought I wouldn't have the time too. It's something that has fostered me to look into my family's history and uncover these stories for our family to learn and remember.
From one granddaughter from Bonegilla Migrant Camp attendees to another....
Thank you!
Natty...
April 15, 2018
Another window into Australia's history, this time with three girls from migrant families, Greek, Italian and German/Hungarian, and an Australian girl who become lifelong friends. Whilst I enjoyed this story very much, and learnt a lot about what some of these migrant families went through, the culture shock, the hanging on to their old ways, family responsibility and expectations, as well as living with things that had happened back in their old country, I also found that I felt sad throughout this story. I struggled with the fact that four of the characters weren't able to be completely happy due to their families expectations and found myself thinking time and again how much luckier we are now with being able to choose who we love and who we marry. A great read despite my feelings of sadness.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a copy in return for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a copy in return for an honest review.
April 28, 2018
I have been looking forward to this book for some time and it didn't disappoint. I really enjoy Victoria Purman's writing and this was fascinating based on New Australians meeting in the Bonegilla Camp and their lives after.
May 25, 2018
4* http://greatreadsandtealeaves.blogspo...
‘They had been friends when they were young, when they were able to celebrate the freedoms of a new life in Australia, thrown together by the circumstance of being at Bonegilla at the same time.’
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is the tale of four girls from different backgrounds and their friendship over a lifetime. It is a heartwarming, yet at times, heartbreaking tale which spans not only their generation, but introduces the next as well. It begins at the Bonegilla migrant camp and then follows them through their lives after their departure, as they embark on a new post war life in Australia. These girls remain friends and, apart from letter writing, share a few reunions over the years as well.
What I appreciated most about this story was the research. I have not read a great deal about this time period in Australia and really appreciated not only the history of migrants to Australia at this particular time period, but I felt that the author conveyed a fairly accurate portrayal of life in Australia for everyone especially during the 1950s. Even with time period jumps to the 1970s and later, although briefer, there was still a true representation.
‘The Australians … they want us to come and do all the dirty jobs, to work in the dirt and the heat and the cold, to dig underground for the Snowy, to grow their food and work in their factories. But they don’t really want us to be Australians.’
With the book spanning decades, it was therefore difficult for a satisfactory amount of detail in both person and place to be conveyed to my liking. So after the initial detail of life at the migrant camp, things jumped around quite a bit and the depth began to diminish. With the underlying theme centred around how to compliment a life that brought together the old and new, the author did a good job. I felt how the European girls were torn in their attempts to placate both culture and family with trying to assimilate into a new society.
‘Some people just don’t like new Australians’
As mentioned, there is heartbreak in this read. Maintaining the old ways brought pain and sorrow with many a secret held onto. So whilst reunions brought some joy, especially with their children and then grandchildren, there was also resignation about what could never be for them. So from this point of view, it was sad, however, there was promise for a different life in the society their children were to grown up in. All up a worthy read, especially if you are interested in this particular time period in Australian history.
‘I can’t help but think … well, I can’t help but think about what might have been. Between the two of us. The time just wasn’t right, was it?’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release
‘They had been friends when they were young, when they were able to celebrate the freedoms of a new life in Australia, thrown together by the circumstance of being at Bonegilla at the same time.’
The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is the tale of four girls from different backgrounds and their friendship over a lifetime. It is a heartwarming, yet at times, heartbreaking tale which spans not only their generation, but introduces the next as well. It begins at the Bonegilla migrant camp and then follows them through their lives after their departure, as they embark on a new post war life in Australia. These girls remain friends and, apart from letter writing, share a few reunions over the years as well.
What I appreciated most about this story was the research. I have not read a great deal about this time period in Australia and really appreciated not only the history of migrants to Australia at this particular time period, but I felt that the author conveyed a fairly accurate portrayal of life in Australia for everyone especially during the 1950s. Even with time period jumps to the 1970s and later, although briefer, there was still a true representation.
‘The Australians … they want us to come and do all the dirty jobs, to work in the dirt and the heat and the cold, to dig underground for the Snowy, to grow their food and work in their factories. But they don’t really want us to be Australians.’
With the book spanning decades, it was therefore difficult for a satisfactory amount of detail in both person and place to be conveyed to my liking. So after the initial detail of life at the migrant camp, things jumped around quite a bit and the depth began to diminish. With the underlying theme centred around how to compliment a life that brought together the old and new, the author did a good job. I felt how the European girls were torn in their attempts to placate both culture and family with trying to assimilate into a new society.
‘Some people just don’t like new Australians’
As mentioned, there is heartbreak in this read. Maintaining the old ways brought pain and sorrow with many a secret held onto. So whilst reunions brought some joy, especially with their children and then grandchildren, there was also resignation about what could never be for them. So from this point of view, it was sad, however, there was promise for a different life in the society their children were to grown up in. All up a worthy read, especially if you are interested in this particular time period in Australian history.
‘I can’t help but think … well, I can’t help but think about what might have been. Between the two of us. The time just wasn’t right, was it?’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release
June 11, 2018
A heartwarming story of four fast friends whose lives are intertwined from 1954 until 2018. They met as sixteen-year-olds in the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in Australia after WWII, a Greek, an Italian, an Hungarian, and an Australian. As they age, their lives continue to be connected, through thick and thin, good times and bad. They marry, have children, love and no matter what, continue to be part of each other's lives.
Listening to this book, I laughed and cried along with the four women. Their stories remain long after this charming, heartfelt story ends.
For a different review, see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
Listening to this book, I laughed and cried along with the four women. Their stories remain long after this charming, heartfelt story ends.
For a different review, see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
September 29, 2020
A sweet book about a group of teenage girls from 4 corners of the globe who find themselves in the Bonegilla camp near Albury in the early 1950s after WW2. It was ok - I really struggled with the level of detail and minutia of it all - as well as the era where racism and gender divides were extreme.
June 13, 2020
I loved this one. A story of our immigrant history told through three girls from different. Pun tries and an Aussie. They all meet at an immigrant camp and become lifelong but distant friends. They get together at weddings, births, deaths and rekindle changing relationships. I would have liked to have heard more about their relationship in later years too. A great story.
June 11, 2018
This is a beautiful story about a piece of history I knew nothing about. Loved the characters, the various Australian settings and learning about Bonegilla and Australia’s immigration past. Just lovely.
September 29, 2019
As the daughter of a Bonegilla girl, I had hoped for so much more from this book. So many missed opportunities to really delve into the differences and similarities between the cultures, the difficulties of assimilation into a new country. Having grown up with Italians and Greeks, and having now several friends who are first or second generation Italian, Greek and German, I felt the characterisations weren't particularly authentic, and that the four girls could really have come from any culture at all. I was also frustrated that the book tried to cover off the entire lifetimes of four different girls, and in doing so failed to do justice to any of them. I had hoped for a little more insight into my own mother's experiences but there was none.
June 3, 2018
Disappointing. I was really looking forward to reading this book as my parents and I were DPs. I was very young when we arrived in the Holding Camps, so don't remember much about our time there, but life there was certainly much grimmer and more arduous than in Victoria Purman's novel. Overall, a bit light-weight - an easy read, but not much more.
January 30, 2019
This book was interesting from a historical perspective, but the story was disjointed, made up of little clips from moments in their lives that made it feel like gossip.
June 8, 2018
Bonegilla, a migrant processing and reception centre in north-eastern Victoria, was the first port of call for more than 320,000 migrants looking for a new start in Australia in the post-war years, including the author’s own grandparents, who arrived there in 1954 from Germany with their five children in tow. With families from all over the world passing through its gates, the centre became a place of multi-culturalism, with many different languages spoken. There was one thing everyone coming to Bonegilla had in common – they were looking for a fresh start, a better life in a world far away from home. With its history so close to her heart, the author made this interesting historical place the setting of her latest novel, which follows the life of four young women from four different cultures, who forged a firm friendship whilst staying at Bonegilla, which would last a lifetime and see them through many turbulent times in their lives. It is, in its essence, a celebration of Australia’s multi-cultural history, of love, friendship, tolerance and building bridges. Set from the 1950’s to today, it spans a lifetime and covers a chapter in Australian history that is not often explored in novels.
Being a migrant myself, I found many of the topics Burman explores in her novel especially close to my heart. However, whilst my choice to emigrate was propelled by love, many of the migrants coming to Australia after the war were displaced persons, people who had lost their homes through conflict and had been through unspeakable trauma. Arriving by ship from the other side of the world, they did not know if they would ever be able to see their loved ones again, the friends and family left behind in their “old country”. The four women in this novel are all in their teens when they arrive at Bonegilla with their parents. Vasiliki from Greece, Elizabeta from Germany, Iliana from Italy and Frances, who is the only Australian and whose father is Bonegilla’s new camp director. The girls first come together through an unfortunate incident with a soccer ball, which will be the start of a life-long friendship. With four protagonists from very different backgrounds and personalities, Burman not only explores the topic of migration and multi-culturalism, but also the realities of womanhood in the post war era. Whilst some issues the “girls” encounter along the way may be shaped by their culture, such as Vasiliki having to marry a Greek man chosen by her parents, other events are universal to women everywhere. Falling in love, marriage, children, divorce, work, illness, looking after sick elderly parents etc, all of life’s milestone feature in this bittersweet coming-of-age novel that will have you laugh and cry in turn as events unfold.
The one difficulty with having multiple main protagonists over a long time-span (a lifetime) is that there are not enough pages in a book to fully explore each of the characters’ fate or go too deep. Instead, we get glimpses into each of the women’s lives at various turning-points in the years after leaving Bonegilla. As commonly encountered, I felt more invested in some characters over others, and found myself wanting to find out more details about their individual fates – questions that plagued me long after turning the last page. Burman does a great job in evoking the post-war era, when women were not yet free to make their own choices, and of the price they often had to pay – which was a prominent theme in each character’s life and made me reflect on how times have changed for the better. I loved how the four friends were able to overcome their differences to form such deep and loyal friendships in an era when multi-culturalism was a relatively new concept, which was very moving and inspiring and gives hope for a better future.
This is my first book by the author and I really enjoyed this glimpse into a chapter of Australian history we normally hear little about. In a previous job, I was privileged to get to hear many real-life accounts of displaced persons coming to Australia to start a new life, and their experiences closely matched many of the sentiments described in Burman’s novel – I thought at the time that “someone should write a book about that”, and was thrilled to find that someone has! The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is an insightful, uplifting and feel-good book that I recommend to all lovers of Australian historical fiction.
3.5 stars
Thank you so much to Harlequin Australia for sending me an ARC of this book and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
Being a migrant myself, I found many of the topics Burman explores in her novel especially close to my heart. However, whilst my choice to emigrate was propelled by love, many of the migrants coming to Australia after the war were displaced persons, people who had lost their homes through conflict and had been through unspeakable trauma. Arriving by ship from the other side of the world, they did not know if they would ever be able to see their loved ones again, the friends and family left behind in their “old country”. The four women in this novel are all in their teens when they arrive at Bonegilla with their parents. Vasiliki from Greece, Elizabeta from Germany, Iliana from Italy and Frances, who is the only Australian and whose father is Bonegilla’s new camp director. The girls first come together through an unfortunate incident with a soccer ball, which will be the start of a life-long friendship. With four protagonists from very different backgrounds and personalities, Burman not only explores the topic of migration and multi-culturalism, but also the realities of womanhood in the post war era. Whilst some issues the “girls” encounter along the way may be shaped by their culture, such as Vasiliki having to marry a Greek man chosen by her parents, other events are universal to women everywhere. Falling in love, marriage, children, divorce, work, illness, looking after sick elderly parents etc, all of life’s milestone feature in this bittersweet coming-of-age novel that will have you laugh and cry in turn as events unfold.
The one difficulty with having multiple main protagonists over a long time-span (a lifetime) is that there are not enough pages in a book to fully explore each of the characters’ fate or go too deep. Instead, we get glimpses into each of the women’s lives at various turning-points in the years after leaving Bonegilla. As commonly encountered, I felt more invested in some characters over others, and found myself wanting to find out more details about their individual fates – questions that plagued me long after turning the last page. Burman does a great job in evoking the post-war era, when women were not yet free to make their own choices, and of the price they often had to pay – which was a prominent theme in each character’s life and made me reflect on how times have changed for the better. I loved how the four friends were able to overcome their differences to form such deep and loyal friendships in an era when multi-culturalism was a relatively new concept, which was very moving and inspiring and gives hope for a better future.
This is my first book by the author and I really enjoyed this glimpse into a chapter of Australian history we normally hear little about. In a previous job, I was privileged to get to hear many real-life accounts of displaced persons coming to Australia to start a new life, and their experiences closely matched many of the sentiments described in Burman’s novel – I thought at the time that “someone should write a book about that”, and was thrilled to find that someone has! The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is an insightful, uplifting and feel-good book that I recommend to all lovers of Australian historical fiction.
3.5 stars
Thank you so much to Harlequin Australia for sending me an ARC of this book and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
May 24, 2018
These days, one in 20 Australians have links to Bonegilla, a migrant centre where those new to the country after WWII were trained and processed before being allocated jobs. According to the website about the Bonegilla experience, more than 300,000 migrants passed through its doors between 1947-1971, mostly from European backgrounds with little to no English. In The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls Hungarian Elizabeta, Greek Vasiliki and Italian Iliana are all there at the same time, waiting for their fathers to be granted jobs or for them to have adequate accomodations so that they can go and live with them. Along with Frances, the daughter of Bonegilla’s director, the four of them bond. Only one of the three migrant girls speaks any English and so Frances takes it upon herself to teach them, better equipping them for their new home once they eventually leave Bonegilla.
What follows is a story that follows all four girls for decades as their lives diverge and come back together time and time again. They move to different states, they get married, have children, keep secrets. Sometimes their communication wavers but their bond is always there. What’s also very strong is the experience of being new to a country, one very different from the old one. The Europeans face the weight of parental expectations in many different ways, expected to marry within their culture and often to men they barely even know. This is at odds with practices in their new homes and the girls were young enough when they came to Australia to become accustomed to its way of life and the differences between that and how their parents expect them to be.
My husband is a first generation born Australian (I’m a seventh) but he was born a bit later than the setting for this story and surprisingly enough, did not face that sort of pressure to marry someone from his cultural background. In fact neither he nor his brothers married Italians although one branch of cousins moved from a small country town to a suburb in Melbourne and they all married Italians, some of which may have been family facilitated. I felt that this book really addressed those sorts of issues really well – that family conditioning, the time from their original country and always wanting to make their parents happy and do what they wanted, versus the time they had spent in Australia and a bit more of a taste of freedom. I enjoyed the way the book would skip forward and check in at various points in the women’s lives. It enabled the reader to keep up with all of the important moments, the ups and the downs but without getting bogged down in the day to day of four women.
Australia has always liked to think of itself as an enlightened country, with strong protests against any racism but ask anyone who came from somewhere ‘different’ and they’ll probably tell you another story. Part of the reason my husband never learned his parent’s language is because that was just another thing that made you a target at school. Elizabeta certainly notices looks and whispers when she speaks German and all of the girls are harassed and insulted one day during a trip from Bonegilla to the shops. A lot is made of ‘assimilation’ as well, getting them to slide seamlessly into Australian society and this is something that has always interested me. What is a successful ‘assimilation’? Is it speaking English? Is it having a job and contributing to society? Is it just abiding by the laws of the country or the laws and the customs? Why is this such a desired thing? People from other countries bring their experiences and knowledge with them and there are many things you’d never want to be forgotten or left behind. So much of Australia’s actual ‘culture’ is because of the many cultures that have come here to make up our current identity. I enjoyed the inner debate this book presented to me as I put myself in the character’s shoes, trying to imagine how I’d feel in those new and unfamiliar situations and torn between the ways of the old country and that of the new. It was so admirable how in the days of pre-internet and mobile phones, these four women kept in contact over so many years and didn’t allow those friendships to fade into nothingness. All of the women are so clearly defined too, which can be difficult sometimes with books that switch back and forth between characters. This was another really entertaining read from Victoria Purman.
***A copy of this book was provided for the purpose of an honest review by the publisher***
What follows is a story that follows all four girls for decades as their lives diverge and come back together time and time again. They move to different states, they get married, have children, keep secrets. Sometimes their communication wavers but their bond is always there. What’s also very strong is the experience of being new to a country, one very different from the old one. The Europeans face the weight of parental expectations in many different ways, expected to marry within their culture and often to men they barely even know. This is at odds with practices in their new homes and the girls were young enough when they came to Australia to become accustomed to its way of life and the differences between that and how their parents expect them to be.
My husband is a first generation born Australian (I’m a seventh) but he was born a bit later than the setting for this story and surprisingly enough, did not face that sort of pressure to marry someone from his cultural background. In fact neither he nor his brothers married Italians although one branch of cousins moved from a small country town to a suburb in Melbourne and they all married Italians, some of which may have been family facilitated. I felt that this book really addressed those sorts of issues really well – that family conditioning, the time from their original country and always wanting to make their parents happy and do what they wanted, versus the time they had spent in Australia and a bit more of a taste of freedom. I enjoyed the way the book would skip forward and check in at various points in the women’s lives. It enabled the reader to keep up with all of the important moments, the ups and the downs but without getting bogged down in the day to day of four women.
Australia has always liked to think of itself as an enlightened country, with strong protests against any racism but ask anyone who came from somewhere ‘different’ and they’ll probably tell you another story. Part of the reason my husband never learned his parent’s language is because that was just another thing that made you a target at school. Elizabeta certainly notices looks and whispers when she speaks German and all of the girls are harassed and insulted one day during a trip from Bonegilla to the shops. A lot is made of ‘assimilation’ as well, getting them to slide seamlessly into Australian society and this is something that has always interested me. What is a successful ‘assimilation’? Is it speaking English? Is it having a job and contributing to society? Is it just abiding by the laws of the country or the laws and the customs? Why is this such a desired thing? People from other countries bring their experiences and knowledge with them and there are many things you’d never want to be forgotten or left behind. So much of Australia’s actual ‘culture’ is because of the many cultures that have come here to make up our current identity. I enjoyed the inner debate this book presented to me as I put myself in the character’s shoes, trying to imagine how I’d feel in those new and unfamiliar situations and torn between the ways of the old country and that of the new. It was so admirable how in the days of pre-internet and mobile phones, these four women kept in contact over so many years and didn’t allow those friendships to fade into nothingness. All of the women are so clearly defined too, which can be difficult sometimes with books that switch back and forth between characters. This was another really entertaining read from Victoria Purman.
***A copy of this book was provided for the purpose of an honest review by the publisher***
September 6, 2018
A very enjoyable historical Australian fiction based on the author's family history.
The story is based on the the meeting of four teenage girls at the Bonegilla Migrant camp and their subsequent lifelong friendship despite their different circumstances and locations.
Francis the camp administrator's daughter, instigates their friendship when she offers to teach the others after she gets home from school. The teenage girls do not attend school and so they have no opportunity to learn English.
Purman successfully portrays the amazing resilience of the migrants who were lured to Australia after WW2 with the promise of work and a better life. Many of these families through hard work did successfully establish businesses and create new opportunities for their families. Some never integrated very well but their children became Australian and managed well. Many never saw their parents and relatives again after leaving the countries where they were born, and that always left a sadness.
Purman captures these mixed blessings through the growing up, the marriages and the creating of families of the four women from four different backgrounds. She combines their stories with issues of family duty, friendship, unrequited love, teenage pregnancy, loyalty, adoption, infidelity and ageing.
This is a thoughtful book which superbly displays the important period of Australian history when new migrants were so important in the building of the country but nevertheless does not hide the fact that their treatment was often less welcoming by the existing population.
The story is based on the the meeting of four teenage girls at the Bonegilla Migrant camp and their subsequent lifelong friendship despite their different circumstances and locations.
Francis the camp administrator's daughter, instigates their friendship when she offers to teach the others after she gets home from school. The teenage girls do not attend school and so they have no opportunity to learn English.
Purman successfully portrays the amazing resilience of the migrants who were lured to Australia after WW2 with the promise of work and a better life. Many of these families through hard work did successfully establish businesses and create new opportunities for their families. Some never integrated very well but their children became Australian and managed well. Many never saw their parents and relatives again after leaving the countries where they were born, and that always left a sadness.
Purman captures these mixed blessings through the growing up, the marriages and the creating of families of the four women from four different backgrounds. She combines their stories with issues of family duty, friendship, unrequited love, teenage pregnancy, loyalty, adoption, infidelity and ageing.
This is a thoughtful book which superbly displays the important period of Australian history when new migrants were so important in the building of the country but nevertheless does not hide the fact that their treatment was often less welcoming by the existing population.
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