The Stars are Upside Down (Lions S.)

By Gabriel Alington and Rita Chang-Eppig

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0006719651
• ISBN13: 9780006719656
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A sentimental favourite from my teens

When I was a teenager, I loved this book. If you like strong, independant heroines, or if you've ever wanted to leave the city behind you and move to the country (or maybe even to another country), or if you yearn for freedom and room to move, then you'll probably love this too. Set in a time when Australia was first being colonised by the British, some two hundred years ago or so, Tavy (Octavia) decides to leave behind her lacklustre life of drudgery and toil as a servant in cold, smoggy London and start anew, in the fledgeling colony of Australia. Her decision to go is a courageous one, as the journey is long and hard (months spent travelling in a crowded, dank boat, followed by life on the wild frontier) but Tavy faces it with courage and optimism, and is not disappointed, especially with the wide open spaces, clean air and relative freedom she finds in Australia. Whilst life in the Australian outback is not easy, and the job she takes there as a servant just as hard as the one she left behind, Tavy is nonetheless enamoured with her new life...Almost as enamoured as she is with her new neighbour, a bushman called Jake, and his bonny baby, Joe, who has been abandoned by his mother, who left Jake for another man. Whilst Tavy at first only visits Jake's hut to care for baby Joe, she also finds herself beginning to care for Jake, too. This is a lovely story, with more than a dash of romance (although not the mushy sort!), which is written for teens, but may be enjoyed by discerning readers of any age.