Pastures of the Blue Crane
 First edition | |
| Author | Hesba Fay Brinsmead |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Annette Macarthur-Onslow |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 1964 |
Pastures of the Blue Crane is an Australian novel by Hesba Fay Brinsmead, published in 1964. The novel won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1965. It was adapted for television in 1969.
Synopsis
The story opens in Melbourne, where Amaryllis Merewether, aged 16, is told her father has died and that she is to inherit his farm on the north coast of New South Wales. There is a catch; the co-heir is the grandfather she never knew she had. The snooty schoolgirl and the ramshackle old pensioner are clearly at odds, yet both are curious about the farm and agree to take the train together and visit their property.
The pair are captivated by the beautiful, almost tropical landscape, and soon its luxuriance begins to work its magic on lonely, isolated Ryl and tetchy Dusty. Too young for university, and with nothing else to do in the meantime, Ryl renovates the old farmhouse and makes of it the first real home she has ever had. She makes new friends, including the mysterious taxi driver, Perry. To her astonishment, she finds relatives her father never told her about ... and discovers why he kept them hidden.
Reception
Pastures of the Blue Crane won the Children's Book Council of Australia's Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1965 and the Mary Gilmore Prize, and established its author's reputation. It remained popular into the 1970s.
Today, its theme of half-caste shame and secrecy has caused the novel to fall from favour in a society where to be of mixed race is now considered an asset. However, it is a fascinating glimpse of a little-known episode in Australia's history, when Pacific Islanders were shipped in to work on plantations in NSW and Queensland.[1]
Television version
| Pastures of the Blue Crane | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Eleanor Witcombe |
| Directed by | Tom Jeffrey |
| Starring |
Jeannie Drynan Harold Hopkins |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Brett Porter |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC Television |
| Original release | 1969 |
The book was adapted for television by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1969.[2]
It was the most expensive production from the ABC drama department since My Brother Jack in 1964, although the budget did not stretch to colour. Shooting took place in Sydney, Murwillumbah, Terranora, Coolangatta and Brisbane.[3] The house featuring in the television series is named "Lovat Brae" and was built by Thomas Fraser in 1904 and still exists today.
References
- ↑ Michael Pollak and Margaret MacNabb, "A wry chronicler of society's foibles", Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 2003 accessed 2 March 2013
- ↑ "New ABC serial is based on prize-winning book.". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 7 July 1969. p. 13. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ↑ Sue Milliken, Selective Memory: A Life in Film, Hybrid 2013, p. 28