A Fortunate Life

Albert Facey's story is the story of Australia. Born in 1894, and first sent to work at the age of eight, Facey lived the rough frontier life of a laborer and farmer and jackaroo, becoming lost and then rescued by Indigenous trackers, then gaining a hard-won literacy, surviving Gallipoli, raising a family through the Depression, losing a son in the Second World War, and meeting his beloved Evelyn with whom he shared nearly sixty years of marriage. Despite enduring unimaginable hardships, Facey always saw his life as a fortunate one. A true classic of Australian literature, Facey's simply penned story offers a unique window onto the history of Australian life through the greater part of the twentieth century – the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man.