The Drover's Wife Audiobook By Leah Purcell cover art

The Drover's Wife

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The Drover's Wife

By: Leah Purcell
Narrated by: Leah Purcell
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Deep in the heart of Australia's high country, along an ancient, hidden track, live Molly Johnson and her children. Husband Joe is away droving, leaving his family in the bush to fend for itself. Molly's children are her world, and life is hard with only their dog, Alligator, and a shotgun for protection - but it can be harder when Joe's around.

Molly's eldest son Danny is the true man of the house, determined to see his mother and siblings safe - from raging floodwaters, hunger and intruders. Danny is mature, but there are some things no child should see. He knows more than most just what it takes to be a drover's wife.

One night, Molly has a visitor - a black 'story keeper', Yadaka. He's on the run from authorities, and exchanges kindness for shelter. Both know that justice in this nation caught between two worlds can be as brutal as its landscape. But in their short time together Yadaka shows Molly a secret truth, and the strength to imagine a different path.

In this brave reimagining of the Henry Lawson short story that has become an Australian classic, Purcell brings us a compelling thriller of our pioneering past that confronts head-on issues of today: race, gender, violence and inheritance. Drama & Plays Fantasy Historical Literary Fiction World Literature Marriage Fiction Genre Fiction
Engaging Storytelling • Rich Characters • Thought-provoking Tale • Historical Depth • Spectacular Saga

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Not something I’d normal read but a friend suggested it! It was a great book! Adventure, stories, history, trials and tribulations!

Great book

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This story was moving, exciting and beyond sad. Loved every minute of this story with rich characters and descriptive scenery. Loved the determination and Mother’s love. Thank you Ms. Purcell!!

Excellence in, Performance and Story !!

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This is one of the best books I've consumed, either read or listened to, in quite some time. So well done, the characters, the story, and Purcell doing the narration is excellent. This is one story I'll listen to again. I truly loved it.

A new favorite

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Such a great listen. Gripping. I was completely immersed with the characters. Leah’s storytelling is brilliant.

Brilliant story and performance by Leah Purcell

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The Legend of Molly Johnson is as courageous as it is honest and passionately read. Perhaps Purcell's proclivity to sing dampens the literary and audio qualities of her novel, but these weaknesses are far outweighed by the comedy, pathos, tragedy and romance of her retelling of Lawson's original short story. My one actual criticism concerns how the narrative ultimately reproduces what it seeks to critique by supplanting an essentialist white mythology with an essentialist black mythology that is no less binary in its stereotypes of good and evil. All the baddies tend to be uneducated white men with rotten teeth and homosexual/trans traits, and all the goodies tend to be educated black men with good teeth and heteronormative traits, but i have no doubt Purcell will make up for this in her sequel.

Riding Him She Was!

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