Not the Same Sky: A Novel

by Evelyn Conlon

By 1848 famine has ravaged Ireland, and London remains undecided about what to do. A shortage of female labour in Australia offers a kind of solution and so, over the following two years, more than 4000 Irish girls are shipped across vast oceans to an unimaginable world in the new colony. On Sunday 28 October 1849, one of these ships, the Thomas Arbuthnot, sets sail from Plymouth with a cargo of girls under the care of Surgeon-superintendent Charles Strutt. Not the Same Sky tells the story of Honora, Julia, Bridget and Anne. It observes them on the voyage, examining their relationship of trust with Charles Strutt, and follows them from Sydney as they become women of Australia, negotiating their new lives as best they can. A stark, poetic intensity gives these young women historical importance and human presence in an elegant and subtle novel suffused with humour. 'Conlon is one of Ireland's major truly creative writers.' - Books Ireland Evelyn Conlon is a novelist, short-story writer and radio essayist. Born in Ireland, she lived in Australia for a number of years. Her last novel Skin of Dreams was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year. The title story of her collection Taking Scarlet as a Real Colour was performed at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival. She is a member of Aosdana, the fellowship of honoured artists in Ireland, and lives in Dublin.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Book Club, Australia

346 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was 4.5 stars for me but I am bumping it up. I expected the story of the forced displacement to Australia of over 4,000 Irish girls aged 14-20 at the time of the Irish Famine in 1848 would be full of horrors. Thankfully the writer doesn't take this path. Instead she weaves a story about loss - loss of family, home, your country and language, and at the bottom of it all, the loss of identity. These stories were mostly forgotten, but thankfully a few histories and an Irish documentary exist.

In this book, which is historical fiction, there is great adherence to the history of these events. The contemporary protagonist is a Dublin woman who carves inscriptions on gravestones. She is invited to Australia to create a monument for these Irish women, and thus their story unfolds. This is a story that will stay with me. It is not only about Irish women, but all the women in the past whose stories have been lost or forgotten.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the curious things that emerges when one travels overseas from Australia is the discovery that The Rest of the World has an awed sense of Australia’s distance from Everywhere Else. When we were in Russia last year, it was really marked and we felt like exotic species whenever anyone remarked on us having come such a long way. I really like the way Evelyn Conlon has captured this attitude in her fourth novel Not the Same Sky.

Joy Kennedy is a stonemason in Dublin when she receives a letter from a Memorial Committee in Sydney. They are approaching her to design a memorial to the 4414 girls who were shipped to Australia between 1848 and 1850 during the Irish potato famine. Joy is a somewhat restless young woman, rearranging the truth of her life continuously but now considering settling herself, in the light of an emerging relationship with Oscar:


Joy Kennedy was standing in her pine kitchen, looking out at the surprised spring morning wondering if she wanted her life to change. This was something she did quite often. She knew she should stop, and she did try, because waiting for things to change eats up the bit of time we’ve got. Always wanting to be someplace else makes nonsense of being here. She wanted to stop whizzing about so much and planning ahead. She wanted to keep her hand on the earth. (p.1)

She discusses the proposal with Oscar, over an atlas:


‘Look at that. Would you look at that, it’s far.’ She ran her finger down the page. ‘I mean, I knew it was far, but…’
If you wanted change, wanted to be someplace else, this was it. (p.3)

The novel then slips back in time to recreate the voyage of just four of these girls, Honora Raftery, Julia Cuffe, Bridget Joyce and Anne Sherry. They travel on the Thomas Arbuthnot under the care of surgeon-general Charles Strutt. The genius of this book is that this longest part of the story, bookended by Joy’s contemporary life and attitudes, seduces the reader into accepting the emigration as benign, a journey away from starvation and death, towards hope. Lulled by the movement of the ship across the oceans, the reader joins the girls’ journey and experiences it as peaceful, marked only by occasional storms. There are emotional storms too, but they are quickly suppressed and barely disrupt the inexorable voyage.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2013/10/27/no...

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 19th century post Famine Ireland many ended up in Workhouses as they were unable to fend for themselves. In Australia a growing and emerging society had a shortage of domestic servants and girls of marriageable age. So Earl Grey proposed what appeared to be a mutually beneficial scheme whereby deprived and disadvantaged young women living in workhouses would move to Australia. Some 4,000 girls made the journey over a period of two years.
This book tells the story of Irish girls, many of them orphans, who made the long journey to Australia on board the Thomas Arbuthnot in 1849 and focuses on four girls in particular. Based on the diaries of Surgeon-Superintendent, Charles Edward Strutt, this is a meticulously researched novel. Strutt encouraged them to learn English as well as good manners, and during the 3 month voyage did everything to prepare the girls for life in Australia.
This is a surprising book in many ways. It does not attempt to portray the Englishman Strutt as a mean spirited man, but rather as a human being concerned about the welfare of the women in his care. Nor does it portray girls living in awful unimaginable conditions. Balanced, measured and meticulously researched, Evelyn Conlon has produced a beautifully crafted book that challenges the mainstream opinion of hardship and awfulness that was the lot of the so-called Earl Grey Orphans. All is bound together when a modern day Irish woman flies to Australia to design a sculpture in commemoration of these Earl Grey girls.
I really enjoyed reading this beautifully written book and would heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in 19th Century Ireland or in the thousands of young girls who left Irish shores to carve out new lives for themselves and also to help create the modern new Australia.

[Bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third Wakefield Press book I've read within the last month. The first two 'flowed' - there was something about the writing style that made me want to carry on reading, something about the stories that drew me in. I did not quite have the same experience with "Not the Same Sky". Although the story eventually captivated me, it felt somewhat disjointed.

This is maybe partly due to Conlon's writing style and perhaps because the plot is unnecessarily layered. For me the story is about the girls who were shipped from Ireland to Australia. I wanted to know more about them, to go into their characters more deeply. Just as I thought this was happening, Conlon veered off into the life of the ship's surgeon who cared for them on their trip. Whilst he is an interesting character, I felt deprived of information about the girls. And then wrapped around these stories is a thinner story about the current day Irish stonemason who travels to Sydney to consider a memorial for the girls. This seemed superfluous to me.

It's an epic tale, and almost succeeds, but left me dissatisfied and feeling that the books was more of an effort than it could have been; that the story was not given full justice.

[Anne Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not having any knowledge of the plight of these girls it was not only an interesting read but also very informative. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it held my interest to the last page and spurred me to find out more about their stories. I would recommend it.

[Kathy E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, and it had great potential but it was too disjointed and never really got under the skin of the characters.

[Morag Riddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about Irish orphan girls who were shipped to Australia in 1848. It is written in a documentary style but still shares lots of details of this time.

[Carmelita · Rating 4 out of 5]

My great great grandmother was one of the famine orphans. This book provided possible answers to why that was not remembered in our family.

[Becki (millerreads)]

DNF at Chapter 7. Truly bizarre writing style and nonsensical structure. Subject matter sounded interesting but got lost in the distraction of the writing.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of Great Irish famine which wasn't that great for people living in the time and some girls who were shipped away to the promised land. Really interesting read.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book deals with the shocking fact that over 4000 very young Irishwomen, aged between about 14 and 21, were taken out of workhouses during the potato famine of 1848 and shipped to Australia to provide female labour. The story follows the (fictional) histories of girls on the ship, "Thomas Arbuthnot" and the young and conscience stricken Surgeon-Superintendent in whose care they have been placed.
Evelyn Conlon has researched the whole subject diligently, not only depicting the actual facts as known of these 4000 women subjected to what amounted to slavery, but also gives a real taste of early Australia and the wonder and loneliness of the Europeans who went there.
Three things stopped me from giving it 5 stars: the first is the manner by which her 2008 protagonist ties into the story and secondly, the contrast between the treatment of her modern and 19th century characters. Her historical characters are excellent: her modern characters are poorly realised. Finally, Ms Conlon is, perhaps, a little too fond of purple prose and of the clever phrase, that looks, self-consciously, to be highlighted; there is no doubt that she can write, but she would do well to write without trying to impress.
All the same, this is a very, very good read.

[Sinéad Breen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost didn't finish this book. The story had great potential. I expected to experience the complex interactions between an Upper class English doctor and 6 girls from famine-stricken Ireland. However, the part that the girls played in his life seemed to be a bit vague, a few incidents were described but I really didn't feel he had any real relationship with them. The issues of the language barrier and cultural differences weren't really addressed to any great extent either, leaving me with a hollow impression of what they even meant to each other. At about half way through I wanted to throw in the towel but decided to persevere and the second half was actually very good and nicely written.

[Bridget]

Interesting but felt unfinished

I'd like to read more about this topic. This historical fiction was interesting but I felt that some of the storied were undeveloped.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about a little-known aspect of Australia's history: the importation of ore than 4000 Irish girls and young women to become servants, wives and mothers in the new colonies. Conlon's style takes time to engage with, while the wrap-around contemporary story didn't work for me, but the book reimagines early lives with empathy and insight.