Little is known of the inner life of Elizabeth Macarthur, one of the early settlers in Sydney NSW, who arrived in 1789 with her officer husband, John, and young son, Edward. The early days of the colony were recorded by men like Lieutenant Watkin Tench and the few women present barely rated a mention.
But imagine that Mrs Macarthur secretly wrote a memoir, and placed the manuscript in a tin, hidden away in the roof of her home at Elizabeth Farm. What stories would she tell about her six-month voyage from England, her life as a young woman in a remote penal colony, the challenges of her marriage to a volatile husband, and her role in establishing Australia as a leading exporter of merino wool? In A Room Made of Leaves (2020), Australian author Kate Grenville, has transcribed and published the secret memoir of Elizabeth Macarthur, giving voice to a remarkable woman.
Born Elizabeth Veale in Devon, her father died when she was only four years old. Her mother remarried and placed young Elizabeth in the care of her grandfather on his sheep farm where she learned how to count, breed and classify sheep. She married an ambitious soldier, John Macarthur, who sought to make a name for himself in the colonies. From the outset, the marriage was a challenge, as John was prone to an explosive rage whenever he felt slighted. Elizabeth had to use her wits to calm her husband and her charm to retain a decent social standing among the officers and colonists. A Room Made of Leaves takes the reader back to Devon, to explore her first encounters with John Macarthur, her travels to Australia and her experiences as an early settler.
Of course there was no secret memoir, but Grenville found inspiration in the real letters Elizabeth wrote to friends and relations back in England. She made scant reference to her husband in these letters, and Grenville used these gaps to hypothesise Elizabeth's thoughts and desires. Grenville's Elizabeth is a wise, quick-witted, passionate and industrious woman, seeking a home and a little corner, un petit coin, of her own.
I absolutely loved this book and was engrossed in the story from beginning to end. Grenville's writing is delightful, and I particularly enjoyed the way in which she described the landscape, Elizabeth's growing understanding of astronomy and botany, and her willingness to learn about indigenous language and customs. I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in Australian history.
I am now curious to learn more about this pioneering woman and will seek out Michelle Scott Tucker's Elizabeth Macarthur: a life at the edge of the world (2018), and will check out Grenville's The Lieutenant (2007) about William Dawes, astronomer of the First Fleet, who has an important role to play in A Room Made of Leaves.