The Dreaming: A Novel of Australia [Hardcover]

Barbara Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 1993

Australia, 1871—Following her mother’s sudden death, Joanna Drury sets sail from India and arrives in Melbourne to claim the property left to her by her mother—and to trace the mysteries of her family’s past.
From her first steps on shore, Joanna becomes entangled with a lost boy who leads her to the fascinating Hugh Westbrook. She agrees to look after the child in exchange for Hugh’s help in finding her inheritance. But she falls deeply in love with Hugh and with life at his sheep station, Merinda.
When strange nightmares begin to plague her—the same that tormented her mother—Joanna starts to notice the Aborigines’ strange reaction to her. Delving into Australia’s past, she discovers the tragic events that have marked her family’s destiny and her own life, events that happened long ago in the time the Aborigines call “the Dreaming.”
Full of intriguing historical detail, Wood’s compelling story brings the clash of immigrant and Aboriginal cultures to stunning life, capturing the danger, mystery, and romance of an emerging country.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This opulent, slightly overdone epic chronicles Australia, grand and still untamed, in a time of tremendous growth. Recently orphaned Joanna Drury sails to Melbourne from England in 1871, intending to ferret out the secrets that killed her mother, Lady Emily, who dreamed of serpents and wild dogs and died mysteriously suffering from symptoms similar to rabies. Joanna has inherited her mother's dreams and, she fears,her fate. The cause of her mother's elusive malady, she believes, lies in Lady Emily's childhood in Australia. But soon after landing, the lonely and beautiful Joanna falls in love and marries handsome Hugh Westbrook. They settle into a loving, though not always peaceful life on Hugh's rapidly growing sheep station and raise two children, Adam and Beth. But bad luck and frightening thoughts continue to haunt Joanna, and her search for Karra Karra, a place somewhere in the outback, which the dying Lady Emily directed her to find, leads Joanna and 12-year-old Beth into a dangerous part of Australia where few whites have gone before. While tales of the aborigines' intriguing culture add a particular and welcome atmosphere to this romantic saga, the enigmatic mysticism central to the plot prevents the reader from becoming totally absorbed in Joanna's plight.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A great summer book. It has everything—good characters, love, adventure, mystery and mysticism."  —Los Angeles Daily News

“Superb storytelling . . . a page turner.” —San Francisco Chronicle

"Magnificent . . . everything a historical novel should be: big, bold, with larger-than-life characters chasing their dreams, and demons with equal fervor.  The Dreaming has all that and more."  —Orange Coast Magazine

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (June 16, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517106043
• ISBN-13: 978-0517106044
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,528,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooked on this author!!!, August 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dreaming (Mass Market Paperback)

Adding to everyone else's comments all I can say is that I could not put this book down. I know I am going to read this book again in the future. I recently purchased the paperback at my local second hand bookstore without any recommendations. However, now I am going to recommend this author to everyone I know.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Regretfully Loaned It Away!, November 11, 2000

By 

"smmairs" (St. Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dreaming (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this novel years ago, when the mass paperback was just in print. It just caught my eye and became one of the most rewarding surprises I've ever had in reading. I wish I could say I completely remembered the story, but I will never forget the descriptions of the Outback, the journey and the Songlines, the glimpses into the Aboriginal culture. It is an historical novel, and an athropological novel. I loaned it to a friend studying anthropology who has since moved, taking it with her!

I have never forgotton the feeling of reading it, soaking it all in. The feeling rushed back fresh during this year's Olympics in Sydney. My search for my own copy brought me to this site and I felt that, after 8 or so years, I could still give it the high marks that compel me to continue my search. Find one, read it with wonderment, embrace the characters, never let it out of the house, and then read it again. I can't wait to follow my own advice!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, September 7, 2003

By 

C. Ann "C. Ann Knight" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dreaming: A Novel of Australia (Hardcover)

This book drew me in as if I were part of the story, and then I could not put it down. The book is filled with mystery, suspense, politics, history, and religion. All of this is blended into a fantastic story. This is the first book I have ever read from this author and I am going to stock my library with more of her books, especially if they are as good as this one.