A Room Made of Leaves is deceptive from the start in that it is a fake memoir of the historical figure Elizabeth McArthur, who was married to John McArthur, who set up the largest sheep farm in the very new colony of New South Wales. It is a realistic account of the early part of Elizabeth’s life in the Devon countryside and her unhappy marriage with the very difficult man who was her husband. We get a sense of how contained and narrow her life was as a woman of her time, forced into marriage early because she fell pregnant.
The voyage over to Australia is filled with vivid detail of the harshness of their circumstances on the ship, when, due to her husband’s argumentative and troublesome undertakings with the crew, they are literally nailed into their cabin. Elizabeth also looses a baby she gives birth to during the crossing, a tragic event she carries with her for the rest of her life.
As she settles into her new surroundings in the new colony, she will think constantly of her old home back in England. She tries to not hope too much to return as soon as possible so as not to feel too bitterly how much she has lost in her marriage.
Then she meets the astronomer Mr Dawes, an elusive figure living away from the main township of the colony to watch the stars. Through him she will learn more about the local Indigenous community, who live alongside the British settlement, on the land that they are now sharing with the colonists. This part of the book is the sunniest in colour and content, and Elizabeth slowly comes to love her new home.
The style of this novel is very beautiful, and we get a realistic sense of what it was like to live in those far away times, and being a woman in a new British colony of the other side of the world. I recommend this book if you like historical fiction, and even if you just enjoy reading about extraordinary women who overcome odds stacked against them. It is a lovely and instructive read.
Book review by Emily
About Emily
Emily is an avid reader and talented writer with a Masters in Literature who has kindly offered to share periodic book reviews with our community.