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Always Greener
'If there’d been a gun in her hand at that moment she knew she’d have shot them.... She’d been so pleased with little Dolly Russell, the good life she’d got for them all. Thought she had it made, had got her hands at last on the levers of her life.... Now it turned out that all that, being so pleased with herself, was no more real than a puff of smoke.'
Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.
With all the pathos and subtlety that defined Grenville’s Australian classics such as Lilian’s Story and her Booker-shortlisted The Secret River, Always Greener tells the story of a generation of women often forgotten at our own cost.
Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.
With all the pathos and subtlety that defined Grenville’s Australian classics such as Lilian’s Story and her Booker-shortlisted The Secret River, Always Greener tells the story of a generation of women often forgotten at our own cost.
Audiobook
Published July 13, 2021
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About the author
Kate Grenville
39 books838 followersKate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller The Secret River, The Idea of Perfection, The Lieutenant and Lilian's Story (details about all Kate Grenville's books are elsewhere on this site). Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
February 18, 2022
Always Greener is the novella-length fictionalised biography of the author’s grandmother, Dolly Russell, and is available as a free audiobook with an Audible subscription. It’s read by the author, and tells the story of her mother’s mother, who was born into a poor farming family in rural New South Wales in 1882, and made a success of her life in spite of the barriers for girls and women at the time, only to lose everything in later life. I was in the mood for something a bit different, and while this is not a happy story, I was surprised at how engrossed I became in the story of Dolly’s life. She died when Grenville was nine, so this is based on her mother’s memories and her own research into their family history.
Dolly is one of the youngest of a large family, and initially spoiled, but soon discovers the realities of life with a proud but surly father and downtrodden mother. She shows promise at school, but is prevented from staying on past fourteen as a student teacher because her father won’t hear of a daughter of his being seen to work outside the home. We follow Dolly through her sometimes difficult marriage of convenience and her struggles with parenthood, her satisfaction at her success as a businesswoman - although still constrained by her husband’s choices - and the impact of the Depression and both World Wars. She’s a prickly, defensive and unhappy woman who finds it difficult to show love - but ensures that her own daughter Nancy - Grenville’s mother - doesn’t suffer the same indignities and powerlessness that she endured, by insisting she train as a pharmacist - at a time when very few women did.
The author’s calm matter-of-fact delivery, even when relating awful family tragedies, made me wonder what she actually felt about it all - this is told from Dolly’s third person past perspective so we never really know. Dolly reminded me a lot of my own mother - the eldest of seven children to a WW2 widow who also never achieved her academic potential and transferred those regrets onto her children. (It was my idea to be a doctor, but she made damn sure I didn’t let teenage indolence get in the way of studying to get there.) Similarly Grenville’s memories of a tall, thin, scary & difficult to love Grandmother echo my feelings towards my father’s German mother - although I at least got to know and appreciate her more as I got older as I was in my twenties when she died. The older I get the more I appreciate being born when I was and the freedoms I’ve taken for granted. (Ironically, younger women now have much less freedom, due to social media etc)
Other reviewers have commented on the sound effects that punctuate this - I didn’t hate them, but didn’t they added to the story. I liked that the author’s voice is low-pitched enough to be able to listen at x1.5 speed as I would otherwise have found it very slow. I would recommend this to anyone interested in 20th century historical accounts of life in Australia through the first half of the 20th century, but don’t expect it to be happy, heart-warming or uplifting - you won’t like Dolly, but you might admire her stubborn spirit. 4.5 rounded up for excellent writing.
Dolly is one of the youngest of a large family, and initially spoiled, but soon discovers the realities of life with a proud but surly father and downtrodden mother. She shows promise at school, but is prevented from staying on past fourteen as a student teacher because her father won’t hear of a daughter of his being seen to work outside the home. We follow Dolly through her sometimes difficult marriage of convenience and her struggles with parenthood, her satisfaction at her success as a businesswoman - although still constrained by her husband’s choices - and the impact of the Depression and both World Wars. She’s a prickly, defensive and unhappy woman who finds it difficult to show love - but ensures that her own daughter Nancy - Grenville’s mother - doesn’t suffer the same indignities and powerlessness that she endured, by insisting she train as a pharmacist - at a time when very few women did.
The author’s calm matter-of-fact delivery, even when relating awful family tragedies, made me wonder what she actually felt about it all - this is told from Dolly’s third person past perspective so we never really know. Dolly reminded me a lot of my own mother - the eldest of seven children to a WW2 widow who also never achieved her academic potential and transferred those regrets onto her children. (It was my idea to be a doctor, but she made damn sure I didn’t let teenage indolence get in the way of studying to get there.) Similarly Grenville’s memories of a tall, thin, scary & difficult to love Grandmother echo my feelings towards my father’s German mother - although I at least got to know and appreciate her more as I got older as I was in my twenties when she died. The older I get the more I appreciate being born when I was and the freedoms I’ve taken for granted. (Ironically, younger women now have much less freedom, due to social media etc)
Other reviewers have commented on the sound effects that punctuate this - I didn’t hate them, but didn’t they added to the story. I liked that the author’s voice is low-pitched enough to be able to listen at x1.5 speed as I would otherwise have found it very slow. I would recommend this to anyone interested in 20th century historical accounts of life in Australia through the first half of the 20th century, but don’t expect it to be happy, heart-warming or uplifting - you won’t like Dolly, but you might admire her stubborn spirit. 4.5 rounded up for excellent writing.
March 29, 2022
An involving story, well told by the author (audio book). Contrary to my usual complaint, this is a book that should've been at least 50% longer (it's only just over 3 hours). There were times when I felt that plot development and the behaviour of characters would've been more convincing if there were more ground work. Certainly all the elements are there to sustain a bigger story. Still, a great book.
October 2, 2022
I was looking for a book set in Melbourne, Australia when I found out about this author who does have at least one book set there. This was an Audible Original included with my subscription so I gave the author a test drive.
This is the story of the author's grandmother. Her grandmother had been a success before, and lived through the Great Depression. She was restless and resilient. Like most people she made decisions that she worked out and those she probably regretted.
It is a strong 4 stars. It could have been 5 stars if some things were fleshed out a little more. It is very short and needed a couple of more transitions. The author narrated it and her narration is a 5, except for the addition of sound effects. This book doesn't need them. Some books could benefit, but I felt as if I had to listen at regular speed, even though I usually listen just a little faster.
This book did make me want to read more of this author. I like her style and this won't be my last Kate Grenville book. I'm glad I was able to try out one of her shorter works first. I would still recommend this. I've really never read much Australian literature so this was a bonus.
This is the story of the author's grandmother. Her grandmother had been a success before, and lived through the Great Depression. She was restless and resilient. Like most people she made decisions that she worked out and those she probably regretted.
It is a strong 4 stars. It could have been 5 stars if some things were fleshed out a little more. It is very short and needed a couple of more transitions. The author narrated it and her narration is a 5, except for the addition of sound effects. This book doesn't need them. Some books could benefit, but I felt as if I had to listen at regular speed, even though I usually listen just a little faster.
This book did make me want to read more of this author. I like her style and this won't be my last Kate Grenville book. I'm glad I was able to try out one of her shorter works first. I would still recommend this. I've really never read much Australian literature so this was a bonus.
December 25, 2021
The life of Dolly Russell, what life was like for women growing up in the late 1800s, the beginning of education, women’s rights and living through two world wars. It was worth the read about Australian life over a hundred years ago.
January 10, 2023
Listened to this as an audio book narrated by the author. A fictionalised account of her grandmother’s life. The book is very short (only three hours) and perhaps would have benefited from being a little longer with more details in places.
August 1, 2021
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
I connected with the story because of my own thoughts and views about my grandmother, who I never had a close relationship with.
I’ve come to understand as an adult that she had to be a strong woman given her first husband left her with 4 children to start his new life in NZ. She moved to NZ, remarried & as an immigrant I know it would have been tough.
That being said - my deep love for my nana would have been hard to replicate. I often wonder how two women who grew up in similar times with challenging lives could be so different.
This book is a great way to reflect and empathise with the strong women who have paved the way for us. Thank you.
I connected with the story because of my own thoughts and views about my grandmother, who I never had a close relationship with.
I’ve come to understand as an adult that she had to be a strong woman given her first husband left her with 4 children to start his new life in NZ. She moved to NZ, remarried & as an immigrant I know it would have been tough.
That being said - my deep love for my nana would have been hard to replicate. I often wonder how two women who grew up in similar times with challenging lives could be so different.
This book is a great way to reflect and empathise with the strong women who have paved the way for us. Thank you.
November 5, 2021
I read the audiobook edition. The book itself was mildly interesting and it was competently narrated, and would have been an okay read had it not been ruined by the insertion of stupid sound effects. These completely spoiled the listening experience, in some cases even obscuring the words. This was a straight narration, not a dramatisation with a cast as if sometimes the case nowadays, and these silly 'effects' had rather the same effect as pictures in a small children's book - i.e. as an adult reader, one found them patronising and irritating. Really, if I wanted to listen to a baby crying, I could go to a shopping mall or something.
August 26, 2025
While many women in Australia today might complain about their lack of freedom (and some quite rightly so), one only has to get an idea of what life was like (especially in rural areas) for women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to realise how lucky most of us are today!
This is a beautifully narrated (by Kate Grenville) account of her grandmother's life based on her book Restless Dolly Maunder. As Kate was just a child when Dolly died, much of this information comes from her own research and from her mother's memories (recounted in Greenville's book One Life: My Mother's Story).
I very much enjoyed reading Restless Dolly Maunder, but found this account even more engaging, especially as we hear it in her granddaughter's voice. Some reviews I have read express the view that Dolly is not a character to be liked, but I disagree. . . I think that she was an intelligent woman who knew her own mind, struggled against the restrictions and the conditions of the time, including World War I and the Depression, and did what she thought was best for her family, even if it didn't always seem to be the kindest thing at the time.
I really enjoyed listening to this account ****
This is a beautifully narrated (by Kate Grenville) account of her grandmother's life based on her book Restless Dolly Maunder. As Kate was just a child when Dolly died, much of this information comes from her own research and from her mother's memories (recounted in Greenville's book One Life: My Mother's Story).
I very much enjoyed reading Restless Dolly Maunder, but found this account even more engaging, especially as we hear it in her granddaughter's voice. Some reviews I have read express the view that Dolly is not a character to be liked, but I disagree. . . I think that she was an intelligent woman who knew her own mind, struggled against the restrictions and the conditions of the time, including World War I and the Depression, and did what she thought was best for her family, even if it didn't always seem to be the kindest thing at the time.
I really enjoyed listening to this account ****
December 6, 2021
I’ve had a curious reading relationship with Grenville. The first time I read Secret River, I hated it. A few years later I read it again and loved it. I have also loved several other books she’s written, although I really disliked A Room Made of Leaves.
Any way, I’ll always download a free audible original and give it a go, so I was happy to give this one a read. I knocked it off on a 14km walk/run/walk and found the story of Grenville’s grandmother, Dolly Russell, highly engaging. This is actually quite funny because my criticism of A Room Made of Leaves was that Grenville invented this hard, nasty woman in Elizabeth Macarthur and pretended it was a biography. This time, she was honest upfront about inventing all of the actual unknown personality aspects of her grandmother’s story - an equally hard, nasty woman - but, perhaps because I knew nothing about her this time, I was happy to be told the story as invented by Grenville.
Whatever the reason, this was a really interesting exploration of the limits in a woman’s life at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Any way, I’ll always download a free audible original and give it a go, so I was happy to give this one a read. I knocked it off on a 14km walk/run/walk and found the story of Grenville’s grandmother, Dolly Russell, highly engaging. This is actually quite funny because my criticism of A Room Made of Leaves was that Grenville invented this hard, nasty woman in Elizabeth Macarthur and pretended it was a biography. This time, she was honest upfront about inventing all of the actual unknown personality aspects of her grandmother’s story - an equally hard, nasty woman - but, perhaps because I knew nothing about her this time, I was happy to be told the story as invented by Grenville.
Whatever the reason, this was a really interesting exploration of the limits in a woman’s life at the beginning of the twentieth century.
July 12, 2022
'If there’d been a gun in her hand at that moment she knew she’d have shot them.... She’d been so pleased with little Dolly Russell, the good life she’d got for them all. Thought she had it made, had got her hands at last on the levers of her life.... Now it turned out that all that, being so pleased with herself, was no more real than a puff of smoke.'
Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.
With all the pathos and subtlety that defined Grenville’s Australian classics such as Lilian’s Story and her Booker-shortlisted The Secret River, Always Greener tells the story of a generation of women often forgotten at our own cost.
Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.
With all the pathos and subtlety that defined Grenville’s Australian classics such as Lilian’s Story and her Booker-shortlisted The Secret River, Always Greener tells the story of a generation of women often forgotten at our own cost.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
did-not-finish
October 12, 2025🎧 Audible Original’s awful sound effects attack Grenville’s short non-fiction account of her grandmother’s life. It seems no author is safe from Audible Original’s sound effects, even when the author is narrating the whole work herself.
BTW, Audible Original means:
-Audible has published it exclusively
-it will not be available in any other formats like e-book or print,
-and it’s only available to Audible’s paid subscribers/purchasers.
I made it through one hour out of the three-hour audio. I would like to have heard the rest of the story, with just Grenville’s lovely voice narration. I had to stop cos those sound effects made it sound to me like a pantomime or a play-school episode.
Someone puts their knife down on table in story? Clatter goes the silverware sound effect. Kettle boiling in the story? Kettle whistle sound. Same goes for babies crying, animal sounds, etc. Too much.
BTW, Audible Original means:
-Audible has published it exclusively
-it will not be available in any other formats like e-book or print,
-and it’s only available to Audible’s paid subscribers/purchasers.
I made it through one hour out of the three-hour audio. I would like to have heard the rest of the story, with just Grenville’s lovely voice narration. I had to stop cos those sound effects made it sound to me like a pantomime or a play-school episode.
Someone puts their knife down on table in story? Clatter goes the silverware sound effect. Kettle boiling in the story? Kettle whistle sound. Same goes for babies crying, animal sounds, etc. Too much.
September 19, 2021
I don't usually read biographies and I am still not sure how much of this was fiction but actually it didn't matter. I enjoyed the style, pacing and content a lot more than I expected. I traditionally keep away from historical accounts and I don't usually like memoirs of any nature so this was a surprising like. In fact the only downside for me was it was quite short. I would have enjoyed more layers/sides to this time and evocative content. I have not read anything by Kate Grenville before but I definitely would now.
A great short listen/read and a good way to encourage you to think about some of those elderly folk having much "more to their lives" than you realise. I loved the "few items she carried with her" being unpacked and explained - it was not overdone though.
Written with an incredibly light touch of agenda, great investigation/contemplation of a very quiet generation.
A great short listen/read and a good way to encourage you to think about some of those elderly folk having much "more to their lives" than you realise. I loved the "few items she carried with her" being unpacked and explained - it was not overdone though.
Written with an incredibly light touch of agenda, great investigation/contemplation of a very quiet generation.
November 26, 2023
Kate Grenville's fictionalised memoir of her grandmother is beautifully written and really interesting. I enjoyed it much more than A Room Made of Leaves probably because I know nothing of her grandmother and there is that personal connection between her and the author which makes the fictionalising more believeable and free-flowing.
This is a very fast read (just oevr 3 hours on audio) and perhaps she could have made it longer through re-imagining, but I thought it was the perfect homage and attempt to understand her grandmother and the time she lived in.
This is a very fast read (just oevr 3 hours on audio) and perhaps she could have made it longer through re-imagining, but I thought it was the perfect homage and attempt to understand her grandmother and the time she lived in.
May 22, 2024
A short novel, novella style in length (runtime around 3 hours, and I don’t know how far over the word count it runs) this is an audible original written and narrated by Kate Grenville, I wonder if this Dolly features in Restless Dolly Maunder - which currently sits on my wish list.
The author has taken facts from her stern and severe grandmothers life and used artistic licence to create this stunning fictional memoir. I was quite amazed at how drawn in I was by this woman, it made me ponder the lives my own ancestors lived and how the women in particular carved out lives for themselves. Dolly was someone who certainly lived the highest highs and the lowest lows. The audio production on this was quite something!
The author has taken facts from her stern and severe grandmothers life and used artistic licence to create this stunning fictional memoir. I was quite amazed at how drawn in I was by this woman, it made me ponder the lives my own ancestors lived and how the women in particular carved out lives for themselves. Dolly was someone who certainly lived the highest highs and the lowest lows. The audio production on this was quite something!
October 27, 2021
This book was written and narrated by Kate Grenville about her grandmother, Dolly Russell. Dolly was born into a poor farming family in rural NSW. She married, had children, suffered through WW1 and WW2, the depression and bankruptcy. She had become a successful business woman and knew if she had a better education things might not have been so hard for her. She was determined her daughter would have a good education so she could get a good job. She was a complex character, but determined and ambitious to have a better life.
November 15, 2021
A biography of her grandmother using some of the details she discovered whilst writing One Life: My Mother's Story.
Read by the author with some sound effects that seem to annoy some listeners, it feels very like an attempt to understand the grumpy old lady she was never close to. Being an intelligent, restless woman when your choices were dramatically limited can't have been easy but Dolly sounds like a hard woman to love.
And oddly, it seems to be a trip around a lot of places I have lived in.
3 stars
Read by the author with some sound effects that seem to annoy some listeners, it feels very like an attempt to understand the grumpy old lady she was never close to. Being an intelligent, restless woman when your choices were dramatically limited can't have been easy but Dolly sounds like a hard woman to love.
And oddly, it seems to be a trip around a lot of places I have lived in.
3 stars
Read
February 6, 2022I got to the end of that and thought- God, I hope she gets a better life next time round! It was one of those audiobooks that you just keep listening to, hoping that something happens to Dolly to make her less bitter, to have a silver lining…. I wanted to shake her but I also totally could see why she was the way she was. And I am glad to be a woman now, and not then, although the truth is that many women around the world still have a life like Dolly’s.
She gets 10/10 for courage and entrepreneurial spirt from me but oh, someone just needed to love her.
She gets 10/10 for courage and entrepreneurial spirt from me but oh, someone just needed to love her.
September 4, 2021
I liked this much more than I expected to. It's just a story about a lady called Dotty, it's not very long and there's no particularly standout moment of her life but she's an interesting character and it's an enjoyable read. I always prefer the recording to be narrated by the author and it seemed even more appropriate for this story about the author's grandmother.
I don't usually enjoy biographies but this one worked for me.
I don't usually enjoy biographies but this one worked for me.
January 14, 2022
A short and sweet biography of Grenville’s grandmother Dolly Russell as she navigates a man’s world in the early 20th century. This was the perfect companion to Grenville’s One Life: My Mother’s Story. I love learning about women long gone and the challenges they faced every day. My utmost respect for women like Dolly, the women who were often forgotten, but forged the very paths that generations of women to come would walk.
June 12, 2023
This was an interesting book about a complicated woman who was hard to love. The limits on her freedom and opportunities created a hardness and a resentment and a restlessness that never left her.
Although the book was short, and some periods were skated over, it was enthralling and impressive - and the later chapters about Dolly’s experience of seeing her sons go off to war was extremely moving.
A good short read.
Although the book was short, and some periods were skated over, it was enthralling and impressive - and the later chapters about Dolly’s experience of seeing her sons go off to war was extremely moving.
A good short read.
December 18, 2021
I enjoyed this look into the past through the eyes of the author’s grandmother Dolly. It was fascinating to see how different the world was then and how Dolly coped with the many trials and prejudices she encountered throughout her life. It was also interesting to see how each encounter shaped her life and to feel her regrets over the choices she made.
December 27, 2025
This was a heart wrenching portrayal not just of Grenville's grandmother's life, but of the lives of women at the turn of the 20th century in general. It made me so glad to be alive now and want to make the most of the opportunities that I so often take for granted (because at the same time, they should be!). Grenville is an empathetic storyteller and I felt developing Australia come to life as I read.
August 11, 2021
This is one of those stories that continues replaying long after the book has been put down. I do feel that it could have been delved into deeper and made into a true masterpiece, instead of a short novella.
September 8, 2021
An honest portrayal of the author's grandmothers life, her frustrations, emotions, guilt and restlessness, and societal constraints at that time. Would be interesting to know how she researched it and how much was inferred or presumed. Was nice to have the author reading the audio version.
October 4, 2021
This is the imagined story of the author's grandmother who was an able, driven woman stymied by the restrictions on women in the the early 20th century and then by the Great Depression. It’s quite short and there is a lot of incident
December 7, 2021
What a delightful read! I very much enjoyed this book, one of the best I’ve read this year! Highly recommend! Kate Grenville has such a way with words and I really appreciated the voice she gave Dolly, and in turn, other women from that time period.
March 7, 2022
I listened to this on Audible and quite enjoyed it. Hearing what Dolly went through in her life and seeing how much things have changed in particular for women over the last 100 years made for a very interesting story and life.
May 12, 2022
Grenville has written a short biography of her grandmother, dolly. She was a tough woman living in a tough time. Grenville captured this well. But unfortunately i found this pretty dull overall. The audio production really didn't help; the background music and sound effects were very annoying.
September 2, 2023
Thank you, Kate, for telling this story of an incredible Australian woman. it makes me wonder about so many who the pages of history pass over. A reminder to ask the questions and listen to the stories of our older generation while they are here to tell them.
September 6, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/ 5
Such a short audiobook but I thoroughly enjoyed the 1920’s Aussie battler tale. Rags to less filthier rags, one little dream at a time ✨ The sound effects and the Australian birdsong in the background was perfesh ❤️😭
Such a short audiobook but I thoroughly enjoyed the 1920’s Aussie battler tale. Rags to less filthier rags, one little dream at a time ✨ The sound effects and the Australian birdsong in the background was perfesh ❤️😭
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews