A Room Made of Leaves (Unabridged)
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3.9 • 64 Ratings
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
What if Elizabeth Macarthur – wife of the notorious John Macarthur, wool baron in early Sydney – had written a shockingly frank secret memoir?
What if Elizabeth Macarthur – wife of the notorious John Macarthur, wool baron in the earliest days of Sydney – had written a shockingly frank secret memoir? And what if novelist Kate Grenville had miraculously found and published it? That’s the starting point for A Room Made of Leaves, a playful dance of possibilities between the real and the invented.
Marriage to a ruthless bully, the impulses of her heart, the search for power in a society that gave women none: this Elizabeth Macarthur manages her complicated life with spirit and passion, cunning and sly wit. Her memoir lets us hear – at last! – what one of those seemingly demure women from history might really have thought.
At the centre of A Room Made of Leaves is one of the most toxic issues of our own age: the seductive appeal of false stories. This book may be set in the past, but it’s just as much about the present, where secrets and lies have the dangerous power to shape reality. Kate Grenville’s return to the territory of The Secret River is historical fiction turned inside out, a stunning sleight of hand by one of our most original writers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
After nearly a decade between novels, Australian writer Kate Grenville makes a stunning return to fiction with this sensitive look at the way men get to write history. A Room Made of Leaves is told as the memoir of real-life figure Elizabeth Macarthur, who became “the mother” of Sydney’s newfound wool industry at the dawn of the 19th century while her domineering husband was overseas. Besides a feminist-minded redressing of the historical record, it also depicts a quiet love story that’s allowed to flourish in the husband’s absence. Unfolding in graceful vignettes read with satisfying candour by English actress Valerie Bader, the novel closely follows letters from the actual Macarthur while allowing Grenville to assert her robust imagination.
Customer Reviews
A room made of leaves
One of the most beautiful books I have ever had the honour to read. Our Australian history through the lens of an ordinary woman placed in a position of unwanted authority. The relationship between her and the indigenous are truly living and awe inspiring and lessons for everyone are scattered throughout the pages. Magnificent read.
Thoughtful read
Terrific read or listen. This books brings Elizabeth to life. Fiction or not, it challenges a reader to see the woman as she was - not just as as she is portrayed in a history book.
Feel cheated
I loved this book, for all the facts i learnt and the knowledge that these were special words from an incredible woman; the native language spoken, the description of the scenery at the time, that is until the final 10 minutes.
I feel cheated. Like i have to unlearn everything. So gimmicky.
I’d almost recommend people to listen to the final chapter first then start from the beginning.
I’m incredibly disappointed by this novel.
Also read in an Australian accent. She immigrated from England, could it not have been narrated in an English accent?