Set against the magnificent backdrop of Australia's geological, human, and natural history, An All Consuming Passion is the story of amateur botanist Georgiana Molloy. In 1829 she married a retired Army captain and emigrated from Scotland to the remote southwestern corner of Australia. William Lines weaves the story of Molloy's life and increasing commitment to botany with the broader story of colonial invasion. He uses Molloy's experience--known mostly through her prolific letters--to highlight issues such as gender inequality in colonial society, the British misunderstanding and abuse of Aboriginal culture, and the impact of Aborigines and colonists on the landscape of Australia.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A celebration of [Lines's] spirited, determined heroine who, having started as so many did by trying to make an English garden in the wilderness, became a serious and passionate student of Australian flora." -- Times Literary Supplement
"Lines excitingly places this quiet, stoical life within the larger context of a dispute between incompatible world-views. . . . Only now, thanks to conservationists like Lines, have we begun to recognize the wisdom of the extinguished tribes." -- Peter Conrad, London Observer
"Lines excitingly places this quiet, stoical life within the larger context of a dispute between incompatible world-views. . . . Only now, thanks to conservationists like Lines, have we begun to recognize the wisdom of the extinguished tribes." -- Peter Conrad, London Observer
From the Inside Flap
"The book is a remarkable blend of biography, history, and botanical passion and will delight readers with its easy combination of genres."--Thomas Keneally, author of A River Town and Schindler's List
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An all Consuming Passion,
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This review is from: An All Consuming Passion: Origins, Modernity, and the Australian Life of Georgiana Molloy (Paperback)
This is a fantastically written book blending historical recount, letters, diary entries and land mark events to give us a wonderful and enchanting glimpse of Western Australia's founding and colonisation. Completely un P-C in his recount of colonialist views of Indigenous Australians, it was shocking to find out beautiful places are named after so horrendously racist and cruel people. Georgiana Mollloy has become my Heroine and she should have been given much more credit for her botantical input into WA's heritage. None the less it is a wonderful read and I would recommend it to any one of a literary mind.
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