Ethel Turner_55

First published in 1894, 'Seven Little Australians' is a vivid time capsule of Victorian Sydney, gorgeous to read in 2021. It starts with a warning: "...not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are... It may be because the miasma of naughtiness develop best in the sunny brilliancy of our atmosphere". And with that encouraging start, we meet the General (a baby), Baby (not a baby any more), greedy Bunty, beautiful Nell, spirited Judy, lovely Pip and boring Meg. Ethel Turner wrote this novel when she was 23 and it has been in print ever since. A joyful read.