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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Brought up in boarding schools, Ryle has learned to be independent, but when her mysterious father dies, her whole world changes. Part of her inheritance is a half-share in a dilapidated farm which she shares with a scruffy grandfather she meets for the first time.'
(Publication summary)
Adaptations
-
form
y
The Pastures of the Blue Crane
( dir. Tom Jeffrey
)
1969
Australia
:
ABC Television
,
1969
Z869026
1969
series - publisher
film/TV
young adult
A coming-of-age story about Rhyll Mereweather, a teenage girl who, after her father dies, believes that she now has no family. Soon afterwards, however, she is informed that she has inherited a run-down northern NSW banana plantation. When she travels from her home in Melbourne to see the property, she discovers a crusty old grandfather and some other surprising relatives she didn't know about.
As with the book, the screenplay deals with many issues, including the irresponsible property development ruining the pristine coastline of northern NSW. It also, in a witty and hopeful way, deals with some of the most unsavoury aspects of Australian culture: its casual racism, its ingrained sexism, and the pressures put upon young people to conform to expectations. The film was arguably the first Australian television series to address racism in any meaningful way. Although the series was made at a time when Australia was still pursuing a white-only immigration program and when discrimination against Aboriginal peoples was endemic, the subject matter was handled with some care by the producers.
Notes
-
Selected by the Big Book Club as joint featured book for December 2005.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Books a Far, Far Better Thing to Do
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 February 2012; (p. 23) -
Australian Children's Literature
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 282-302) Discusses themes, trends and developments in Australian children's literature between 1841 and 2006. -
Descriptive Step Back to Old Adelaide
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 3 December 2005; (p. 25) -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 18 no. 3 2004; (p. 64)
— Review of Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964 single work novel -
Performances of Colour : Narratives of Passing in Settler-Society Texts
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Seriously Playful : Genre, Performance & Text 2004; (p. 77-84) In this paper, Bradford focuses on settler-society texts involving characters who move across the psychological and physical boundaries dividing races.
-
Contemporary Classics
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June-July no. 262 2004; (p. 61-62)
— Review of Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964 single work novel ; The Green Wind [and] The Wind is Silver 2004 selected work children's fiction ; By the Sandhills of Yamboorah 1965 single work novel -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 19 no. 2 2004; (p. 39)
— Review of Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964 single work novel -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 18 no. 3 2004; (p. 64)
— Review of Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964 single work novel -
Untitled
1965
single work
review
— Appears in: New Books for Boys and Girls , July no. 21 1965; (p. 6-7)
— Review of Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964 single work novel -
Descriptive Step Back to Old Adelaide
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 3 December 2005; (p. 25) -
Performances of Colour : Narratives of Passing in Settler-Society Texts
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Seriously Playful : Genre, Performance & Text 2004; (p. 77-84) In this paper, Bradford focuses on settler-society texts involving characters who move across the psychological and physical boundaries dividing races. -
Australian Children's Literature
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 282-302) Discusses themes, trends and developments in Australian children's literature between 1841 and 2006. -
Books a Far, Far Better Thing to Do
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 February 2012; (p. 23) -
Hesba Fay Brinsmead : Truth and Romantic Vision
1981
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Innocence and Experience : Essays on Contemporary Australian Children's Writers 1981; (p. 133-157)
Awards
- 1965 winner CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year Award
- 1963 winner ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award
- Murwillumbah, Murwillumbah area, Far Northeast NSW, New South Wales,