Far from a Low Gutter Girl

Drawing on the letters of girls who were made state wards, acclaimed writer and historian Margaret Barbalet’s Far From a Low Gutter Girl reveals the real world of Australian domestic servants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, amplifying their voices for the first time.


Far from a Low Gutter Girl was first published to critical acclaim in 1983. In addition to non-fiction, Margaret Barbalet has written essays, children’s books, poetry, short stories, novels and has worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs.