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Children of the Wind #1
Bridie's Fire
The first of four exciting, true-to-life adventures, 'Bridie's Fire' is the tale of a fiery Irish girl who leaves Ireland to find a home for herself in goldrush Australia.
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2003
About the author
Kirsty Murray
27 books65 followersKirsty Murray is a multi-award-winning author of more than 20 books for children and young adults. Her works include eleven novels as well as non-fiction, junior fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction and picture books. She loves books, libraries, bookshops, readers, writers, puddles, puppies, and stories – especially stories about kids and teenagers. Her 2019 releases included the non-fiction title 'Kids Who Did' and a gorgeous new picture book 'When Billy was a Dog', illustrated by Karen Blair. 'Strangers on Country', by Kirsty & Dave Hartley with stunning illustrations by Dub Leffler was published in 2020.
You can find me all over the internet. There's stacks of information on my website at:
hhtps://www.kirstymurray.com
and I'm on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/kirstymurrayauthor
and Twitter:
http://twitter.com/kirstymurray
You can find me all over the internet. There's stacks of information on my website at:
hhtps://www.kirstymurray.com
and I'm on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/kirstymurrayauthor
and Twitter:
http://twitter.com/kirstymurray
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 19, 2014
This was a really good book. I wasn't so keen on the portrayal of the theatre people's relationships but up until then I had thought Murray had done very well to balance horrors and devastation with moments of hope and the relationships that feed survival. The complexity of loyalty and an individual journey I thought were well plotted. Love was real but threatened by reality. Awful choices had to be made and people were scarred by their choices.
It was also good that the book did not attempt to be apolitical or to individualise the suffering of the characters. There were systems of injustice that made this unnecessary famine and the book was upfront about that. The book also tried to honestly and respectfully portray the diversity of the people who made up early Australia instead of working under a homogenised whiteness. Questions of class and gender and the delights and limitations of relationships across all these groups of difference were kept complex, when it is so easy to write a feel-good version where none of that matters.
I will be interested at some point to read the others in the series.
It was also good that the book did not attempt to be apolitical or to individualise the suffering of the characters. There were systems of injustice that made this unnecessary famine and the book was upfront about that. The book also tried to honestly and respectfully portray the diversity of the people who made up early Australia instead of working under a homogenised whiteness. Questions of class and gender and the delights and limitations of relationships across all these groups of difference were kept complex, when it is so easy to write a feel-good version where none of that matters.
I will be interested at some point to read the others in the series.
June 22, 2013
YA? Really?
I'm a bit confused. Halfway through the book, at a very climactic chapter-end, we learn that Bridie is eleven years old.
Hmmm... which would have made her eight or nine at the start of the book... not that she acted that way. She always did seem older.
This is a really fine book, well-written, with a background steeped in both Irish mythology and history. The character of Bridie is complex and satisfying. She grows from a child on the Dingle Peninsula (at the time the Potato Famine arrives) to a girl on the verge of womanhood in Australia. Along the way, she negotiates her way through a maze of psychological, physical and spiritual perils.
I really enjoyed the book and am greatly looking forward to the next in the series. I marked it down because it just doesn't have a true climax (because it doesn't really finish or round off at the end) and because I was jolted right out of the story when it became clear Bridie was eleven. I had to reboot my brain suddenly to encompass the thought she wasn't the fourteen or fifteen I'd imagined her to be. Once out of the story, with the analytic side of my head turned on, it was never quite the same.
Still, three and a half stars.
I'm a bit confused. Halfway through the book, at a very climactic chapter-end, we learn that Bridie is eleven years old.
Hmmm... which would have made her eight or nine at the start of the book... not that she acted that way. She always did seem older.
This is a really fine book, well-written, with a background steeped in both Irish mythology and history. The character of Bridie is complex and satisfying. She grows from a child on the Dingle Peninsula (at the time the Potato Famine arrives) to a girl on the verge of womanhood in Australia. Along the way, she negotiates her way through a maze of psychological, physical and spiritual perils.
I really enjoyed the book and am greatly looking forward to the next in the series. I marked it down because it just doesn't have a true climax (because it doesn't really finish or round off at the end) and because I was jolted right out of the story when it became clear Bridie was eleven. I had to reboot my brain suddenly to encompass the thought she wasn't the fourteen or fifteen I'd imagined her to be. Once out of the story, with the analytic side of my head turned on, it was never quite the same.
Still, three and a half stars.
August 4, 2019
The pacing of this book was all over the place but it was still pretty good.
October 3, 2024
worst book ive been forced to read so so so boring
August 31, 2019
2.5 stars
I suppose it is a good novel for young readers to get an introduction to both Ireland and Australia in the 1840s. However, it fell a bit flat for me, as Bridie seemed such an obvious pawn on the narrative map that the writer has laid out for her.
For an adult reader, this was a very predictable, formulaic read. It covered all the expectable steps in the life of a young girl who flees the Irish potato famine, loses one family member after another on the way, makes her way to Australia where she meets all sorts of people, rich and poor, good and bad, ordinary and extraordinary, and has lots of adventures on the way.
I also think that the writer was aiming rather low when she decided to make the protagonist just 11 years old.
I was considering to read this novel with my 10th grade (English as a foreign language), but that won’t fly. At 16, they are too old to be interested in the story of an 11-year-old, while the vocabulary is largely too challenging for them (and there is no school book edition for language learners).
I suppose it is a good novel for young readers to get an introduction to both Ireland and Australia in the 1840s. However, it fell a bit flat for me, as Bridie seemed such an obvious pawn on the narrative map that the writer has laid out for her.
For an adult reader, this was a very predictable, formulaic read. It covered all the expectable steps in the life of a young girl who flees the Irish potato famine, loses one family member after another on the way, makes her way to Australia where she meets all sorts of people, rich and poor, good and bad, ordinary and extraordinary, and has lots of adventures on the way.
I also think that the writer was aiming rather low when she decided to make the protagonist just 11 years old.
I was considering to read this novel with my 10th grade (English as a foreign language), but that won’t fly. At 16, they are too old to be interested in the story of an 11-year-old, while the vocabulary is largely too challenging for them (and there is no school book edition for language learners).
March 27, 2017
This is book 1 of a series of 4 books. They are sequential but tell a different persons tale who comes along around the time the previous book ends.
This is the first and tells a tale of Bridie who lives in Ireland in the time of the beginning of the potato famine. It's a bit blunt about how life is for a child at this time so you really get the feel for how it was. She becomes orphaned with her brother and ends up in a home. And at a young age she is separated from her brother and sent to Australia. It tells the rest of her story of how she survives and grows up in a colony country.
A great young adult story about the past, about early Australia and how life was. Would be good for a history project.
This is the first and tells a tale of Bridie who lives in Ireland in the time of the beginning of the potato famine. It's a bit blunt about how life is for a child at this time so you really get the feel for how it was. She becomes orphaned with her brother and ends up in a home. And at a young age she is separated from her brother and sent to Australia. It tells the rest of her story of how she survives and grows up in a colony country.
A great young adult story about the past, about early Australia and how life was. Would be good for a history project.
May 7, 2020
This was given to me by a dear friend and sat on my shelf for 3 years and I have finally read it.
The story was heavy in parts however there is no way to candy coat immigration to a new country.
I have never delved into Irish history so having an understanding of the potato famine and it’s implications was very confronting.
I enjoyed that the story was set in Melbourne and the goldfields of Ballarat and to have a glimpse of what life was like here in the 1800’s
The book is the first in a series but probably won’t read the rest.
The story was heavy in parts however there is no way to candy coat immigration to a new country.
I have never delved into Irish history so having an understanding of the potato famine and it’s implications was very confronting.
I enjoyed that the story was set in Melbourne and the goldfields of Ballarat and to have a glimpse of what life was like here in the 1800’s
The book is the first in a series but probably won’t read the rest.
July 3, 2017
A very well written book that really helps you to feel what each character is feeling. I found it quite informative also, whilst being able to understand this information and the hardships each character went through. The only issue I had was there was still several unanswered questions and some plot holes, though they will perhaps be answered in the other novels in the 'Children of the Wind' series. Overall though a pretty good book.
September 4, 2018
This was such a heartfelt read. It was also really interesting and I loved the history to it.
November 24, 2010
BRIDIE'S FIRE, by Kristy Murray, I think was a really good book. I really liked Bridie's character -- she had flaws (she wasn't perfect, or totally charismatic) and she was a strong person. She had strong wants and she was tough. She persevered until she got where she wanted be.
But while her core personality never wavered during the book, she was still a dynamic character.
I really like the scene at the beginning of the book, when she and Brandon climb up onto a horse that appears to be wild. They did it just for the fun of it. They were reckless; excited to try something new.
By the end of the book, Bridie had changed - she realized that she couldn't always be so reckless, even if that was something that she wanted to do. She had watch before she did anything.
Over all. I really liked BRIDIE'S FIRE, by Kristy Murray.
But while her core personality never wavered during the book, she was still a dynamic character.
I really like the scene at the beginning of the book, when she and Brandon climb up onto a horse that appears to be wild. They did it just for the fun of it. They were reckless; excited to try something new.
By the end of the book, Bridie had changed - she realized that she couldn't always be so reckless, even if that was something that she wanted to do. She had watch before she did anything.
Over all. I really liked BRIDIE'S FIRE, by Kristy Murray.
June 30, 2011
I read this book in primary school and I fell in love with it. Not only because of the way it is written, the storyline and it's historical features but also because of the name of the book- Bridie's Fire. Bridie is my name and so I loved it even more. The Author came to our school and she asked me to stand up and she was like, whats your name? and I said Bridie and she laughed because she was talking about the book.
Anyways, this book has a lot of energy in it. It's sad, entertaining, adventerous and it also shows the struggles Bridie faces as she grows older.
Personally I find this book fantastic and I think you should read it :)
Anyways, this book has a lot of energy in it. It's sad, entertaining, adventerous and it also shows the struggles Bridie faces as she grows older.
Personally I find this book fantastic and I think you should read it :)
April 23, 2014
Tragedy strikes spirited Bridie's family when the potato famine destroys their crops and leaves them starving and destitute. The family's struggles become harder and harder, until eventually she makes her way to Australia, where she struggles to keep the fire inside her burning.
I found this a little slow to start, but the more I read about Bridie, the more I liked her.
An Australian historical fiction for kids 13+.
I found this a little slow to start, but the more I read about Bridie, the more I liked her.
An Australian historical fiction for kids 13+.
July 22, 2009
I really liked this book even though i am not into history type books. It was really sad at the start but i wanted to keep reading. I thought the ending could have been a bit better but i really liked the last page :)
July 18, 2009
I loved this book! There was a bit too much death in it for my liking, but other than that, it was a very enjoyable book to read!
July 21, 2009
Bridie is a very confident and inderpendant. She shows a great amount of courage when she is faced with many obsticals. It is a brilliant book to read.
July 22, 2009
on the first page
July 22, 2009
finished last night.good book. (=
July 27, 2009
This is a good book so far, but is very sad.
February 25, 2011
Haunting. Beautiful. Enrapturing.
I loved - love - the characters, the story and the pace of the book. Kirsty Murray knows how to tell stories. I love the entire series and this is my favourite.
I loved - love - the characters, the story and the pace of the book. Kirsty Murray knows how to tell stories. I love the entire series and this is my favourite.
September 25, 2012
This was an inspiring book about a young girl Bridie and her struggle through life as she escapes Ireland's hunger famine to work in Australia. This story outlines the struggles she is faced with
April 27, 2013
I really enjoyed Bridie's Fire. I wasn't really expecting myself to like it because it was a book we had to read for school, but I really liked the writing and the plot. Good read.
March 26, 2014
i think it is really interesting plus i learnt a lot, defiantly my favourite book I've read in a long time
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews