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The Dark Mountain
The story of two fiercely strong women, mother and daughter, one determined never to explain her choices and the other equally as determined to dig deeply and unrelentingly for the truth.
Based on fact, this astonishing tale features a memorable cast of characters, including Australia's first female novelist and one of the country's earliest, most notorious serial killers.
Based on fact, this astonishing tale features a memorable cast of characters, including Australia's first female novelist and one of the country's earliest, most notorious serial killers.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
37 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Jinks
61 books537 followersCatherine Jinks is the Australian author of more than thirty books for all ages. She has garnered many awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award(three times), the Victorian Premier’s Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the Australian Ibby Award, and the Davitt Award for Crime Fiction. Her work has been published in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Thailand.
Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. Her high-school years were spent in Sydney, NSW; in 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her.
From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, NSW.
She has two brothers, and two pet rats. Like most people in Leura, she has become a slave to her garden, but not to the extent that she’ll buy rooting powder.
Catherine has been writing books since she was eight years old. She doesn’t expect to stop writing them any time soon.
Author photo: Catherine Jinks in front of 'Conceptual Networks', by artist Paul du Moulin.
Photo by Paul du Moulin
Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. Her high-school years were spent in Sydney, NSW; in 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her.
From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, NSW.
She has two brothers, and two pet rats. Like most people in Leura, she has become a slave to her garden, but not to the extent that she’ll buy rooting powder.
Catherine has been writing books since she was eight years old. She doesn’t expect to stop writing them any time soon.
Author photo: Catherine Jinks in front of 'Conceptual Networks', by artist Paul du Moulin.
Photo by Paul du Moulin
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 22, 2019
Didn't really enjoy but persevered as it's on my summer reading challenge list
December 11, 2013
This book is very personal to me as it involves my ancestors, specifically my great x4 grandmother. In saying that I was very pleased with the way it was written and it gave me an insight to how their lives may have been 170 odd years ago
October 15, 2019
Charlotte, the eldest of the Atkinson children, is the narrator of the story and through her eyes and thoughts are seen the consequences of her mother marrying her overseer, George Barton. Oldbury, once happy and prosperous, slides into ruin by Barton's mismanagement. He is a drunkard and violent, feared not only by the family, but also by the convict work force.
This marriage brings so much misery to the Atkinson family that like Charlotte I asked what was the reason for it. Unfortunately there is never a clear answer given to this question and I was still left wondering at the end of the novel, though a mature age Charlotte appears to gain an insight into her mother’s actions.
Throughout the novel Charlotte’s mother is forever battling the trustees of Oldbury for money and guardianship of the children. As Charlotte grows older she is constantly at odds with her mother and cannot forgive, what she sees as the ultimate betrayal, her mother’s marriage to Barton. Desperate to understand, Charlotte is forever defying her mother, in an attempt to force an explanation.
The atmosphere of the novel is at times menacing, Oldbury is built in the shadow of Gingenbullen Mountain. It borders the Belanglo forest, where bushrangers roamed, and is still a notorious place today. John Lynch, Australia’s first serial killer, also has a link to Oldbury, and the evil presence of George Barton adds further to the menace. All these things have an effect on the impressionable young Charlotte and it is no wonder that she comes to dislike the home she once loved and, at times, her mother whom Charlotte blamed for her estrangement from the family.
I was totally engrossed in this story and sympathized with Charlotte. How her life would have been easier had her mother taken the time to explain, but for some reason her mother did not wish to do so. Society was quick to condemn those that stepped out of its boundaries and Charlotte and her mother, so much alike, shared this fate.
I was disappointed that no reason was ever given for the marriage of Charlotte's mother and George Barton, but this added to the suspense and kept me reading with the hope that all would be revealed at the end. However, even without a neat ending, the story was still powerful and I have no qualms in recommending this novel, a tale of one of Australia's colonial families, as a great read.
This marriage brings so much misery to the Atkinson family that like Charlotte I asked what was the reason for it. Unfortunately there is never a clear answer given to this question and I was still left wondering at the end of the novel, though a mature age Charlotte appears to gain an insight into her mother’s actions.
Throughout the novel Charlotte’s mother is forever battling the trustees of Oldbury for money and guardianship of the children. As Charlotte grows older she is constantly at odds with her mother and cannot forgive, what she sees as the ultimate betrayal, her mother’s marriage to Barton. Desperate to understand, Charlotte is forever defying her mother, in an attempt to force an explanation.
The atmosphere of the novel is at times menacing, Oldbury is built in the shadow of Gingenbullen Mountain. It borders the Belanglo forest, where bushrangers roamed, and is still a notorious place today. John Lynch, Australia’s first serial killer, also has a link to Oldbury, and the evil presence of George Barton adds further to the menace. All these things have an effect on the impressionable young Charlotte and it is no wonder that she comes to dislike the home she once loved and, at times, her mother whom Charlotte blamed for her estrangement from the family.
I was totally engrossed in this story and sympathized with Charlotte. How her life would have been easier had her mother taken the time to explain, but for some reason her mother did not wish to do so. Society was quick to condemn those that stepped out of its boundaries and Charlotte and her mother, so much alike, shared this fate.
I was disappointed that no reason was ever given for the marriage of Charlotte's mother and George Barton, but this added to the suspense and kept me reading with the hope that all would be revealed at the end. However, even without a neat ending, the story was still powerful and I have no qualms in recommending this novel, a tale of one of Australia's colonial families, as a great read.
August 18, 2017
Interesting story but convoluted and very long winded. Two and a half stars.
September 14, 2025
dnf - endless domestic violence and oppression, very well written. Felt way too real.
August 21, 2012
The Dark Mountain
by
Catherine Jinks
* Catherine Jinks is the author of many children’s and YA books as well as several adults’ novels. She has been writing for over fourteen years and enjoys commercial and critical success across a wide range of genres and age groups. Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales with her husband and three children.
http://www.catherinejinks.com/
* Published in 2008 by Allen & Unwin, Australia. ISBN: 978 1 74114 995 1 (P/bk) 471 pages
A simple cover, orange and dark brown, highlighting a set of keys which form an integral part of the story
* The third adult novel to be published for Catherine Jinks.
* The setting is the Southern Highlands ‘region, south of Sydney, from 1836 up to 1905. A gripping, fictional tale, dealing with the trials and troubles suffered by Charlotte Atkinson.
As the narrator, Charlotte takes us back to her early childhood, to an impressionable 10 year old. Prompted to reply to her niece, Louisa S.A. Cosh, Charlotte tells of her sorrow at the death of her father, John Atkinson, when she is just 10 years old. Her mother struggled to run the large sheep station with the help an overseer, George Bruce Barton and assigned convicts. Inexplicably, her mother marries George Barton and the family’s life is changed forever.
An alcoholic and violent man, George Barton makes life impossibly difficult for Charlotte and her younger sisters and brother. The misery created by this situation follows Charlotte for the remainder of her life and she constantly clashed with her mother and the wicked step-father. We are introduced to the terrible state of the law of that period when a married woman had no rights and she forfeited all of her possessions, including her safety to her husband for him to do as he wished. Sadly, as Charlotte looks back on her troubled life with her mother, she sees her actions in a differing light and can see similarities in her own life. Finally, when responding to her niece Charlotte is beset with guilt and begs forgiveness.
A intriguing and gripping read!
* Grammar and format are excellent.
* I rate this book as a three (3) star book -
* This book is available from - Booktopia.com * Fishond.com * eBooks.com * Allen & Unwin * your local Library
The Dark Mountain
by
Catherine Jinks
* Catherine Jinks is the author of many children’s and YA books as well as several adults’ novels. She has been writing for over fourteen years and enjoys commercial and critical success across a wide range of genres and age groups. Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales with her husband and three children.
http://www.catherinejinks.com/
* Published in 2008 by Allen & Unwin, Australia. ISBN: 978 1 74114 995 1 (P/bk) 471 pages
A simple cover, orange and dark brown, highlighting a set of keys which form an integral part of the story
* The third adult novel to be published for Catherine Jinks.
* The setting is the Southern Highlands ‘region, south of Sydney, from 1836 up to 1905. A gripping, fictional tale, dealing with the trials and troubles suffered by Charlotte Atkinson.
As the narrator, Charlotte takes us back to her early childhood, to an impressionable 10 year old. Prompted to reply to her niece, Louisa S.A. Cosh, Charlotte tells of her sorrow at the death of her father, John Atkinson, when she is just 10 years old. Her mother struggled to run the large sheep station with the help an overseer, George Bruce Barton and assigned convicts. Inexplicably, her mother marries George Barton and the family’s life is changed forever.
An alcoholic and violent man, George Barton makes life impossibly difficult for Charlotte and her younger sisters and brother. The misery created by this situation follows Charlotte for the remainder of her life and she constantly clashed with her mother and the wicked step-father. We are introduced to the terrible state of the law of that period when a married woman had no rights and she forfeited all of her possessions, including her safety to her husband for him to do as he wished. Sadly, as Charlotte looks back on her troubled life with her mother, she sees her actions in a differing light and can see similarities in her own life. Finally, when responding to her niece Charlotte is beset with guilt and begs forgiveness.
A intriguing and gripping read!
* Grammar and format are excellent.
* I rate this book as a three (3) star book -
* This book is available from - Booktopia.com * Fishond.com * eBooks.com * Allen & Unwin * your local Library
The Dark Mountain
September 12, 2011
Set in the Southern Highlands, south of Sydney, in the 1800s, this is a fictional telling of the trials and tribulations of Charlotte Atkinson. The narrator tells her tale by looking back to the past, with interludes back to the present to give some explanations of goings on. The story encompasses many themes, like the social divide between classes based on wealth, background or breeding, and religion, the circle of life, and that actions (and words) have consequences.[return]Charlotte's father dies when her and her siblings are young, and her mother remarries. George Barton was the overseer, and therefore a different class of person. And what a troubled man! He was an alcoholic, and was mentally unstable to boot, making life a misery for Charlotte and her family. A misery that will follow them to the end of their days. As she grows older, Charlotte clashes with her mother, over her own choices in life, and never fails to raise the specter of George Barton into their arguments. In later life however, Charlotte seems to look back on her mothers actions in a different light, seeing similarities in her own life.
October 6, 2012
Based on actual events in New South Wales during the mid-1800s, this is the story of a colonial family spanning some 70 years. It was in intriguing story, which held my attention, but it was also a very convoluted one. There was a lot of speculation, often far too much detail, and more than once I wished that the author would just get on with it. On the other hand, it was a very compelling read and I very much wanted to find out what would happen to the characters. Not all questions were answered in the end, but I suppose that is bound to happen since the book is about real-life characters. Catherine Jinks' writing is once again wonderful, perfectly capturing the period and place. A good read about life in colonial Australia, if a somewhat lengthy one.”
December 1, 2014
A detailed glimpse (based on a true story) into the history of an Australian family, based in Sydney and the Southern Highlands. A very enjoyable read both from the quality of the writing and also of personal interest as my Grandmother lived for a time at Oldbury, one of the central settings of the book.
January 29, 2016
Extremely interesting. I especially liked the fact that it was based in Australia on true events.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews