Book Review: Elsa Goody Bushranger by Darry Fraser

I’m a big fan of Darry Fraser’s historical fiction novels, she has a way of transporting you back in time so that you just about feel that you are there with the characters. In Elsa Goody Bushranger, I was definitely travelling the roads from Robe, South Australia to Casterton, Victoria in 1896. This was not an easy time or an easy journey for Elsa and her sister Rosie, and there were many times I didn’t want to go any further with them because I was so worried about the outcomes.

It is a time where women don’ t have a great deal of rights, but in South Australia women are just about to be able to vote for the first time and make history in Australia. For Elsa this is of mighty importance, but her sister cannot understand this at all. We take our right to vote to be a given these days, I wonder if we would have fought for that right back then.

When Elsa and her sister Rosie are thrown together after their brother and father die, the two must get to know each other properly for the first time and travel a dangerous road to find out what happened to their brother. Things don’t go as planned, what was supposed to be an uneventful journey becomes fraught with danger from more than one direction and Elsa becomes wanted for helping to hold up a coach.

Hearts are also on the line for both sisters and for the three Jones’ brothers. I enjoyed getting to know the two sisters and the brothers, all so different from the other and all with lessons to learn about what they want in life and what is important. I really liked Ezekiel Jones and his children, who were just gorgeous, and I loved the way they took to Elsa.

This was a journey and a half and though it had me stressed out at times, I found this to be another great read from Darry Fraser. I certainly would not have survived back them, that is a definite.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.