Marianne Musgrove, Frieda: a new Australian, Omnibus Books/Scholastic Australia, 1 Nov 2016, 289pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 97817422991146
It is 1913. Twelve year old Frieda has recently arrived in Australia from Germany with her mother and father to start a new life full of promise and opportunity. They have left everything that is familiar to them thousands of kilometres away, including Frieda’s beloved grandmother. As Frieda starts to settle into the Australian way of life and make new friends, war is declared between Germany and Australia – as part of the British Commonwealth – and Frieda’s place in her new homeland becomes uncertain.
Frieda is a heart-wrenching tale about the complexities of settling into the culture of a new country; a story of great relevance to Australians. Apart from indigenous Australians, we have all come from somewhere else so Frieda’s story is a familiar one. For some of us, these cultural adjustments occurred many generations ago; for others, they can be as recent as today.
Author, Marianne Musgrove guides us through the process of resettlement using strong visual components to present a roller-coaster of emotion in a non-judgemental way. And Musgrove’s excellent research brings WWI Adelaide to life with well-rounded characters, recognisable landmarks and diverse situations.
I love this book; and I love Frieda who so capably deals with her life and the circumstances of those around her – reflecting on the advice of her grandmother while being delightfully rebellious when she feels it is necessary. Above all, Frieda cherishes her family and the friends who stand by her in tough times. Like so many children who are thrust into situations in which they must function within an adult framework, Frieda gains a level of maturity beyond her years. Frieda becomes resilient.
This book is also special to me because of a personal connection – that of a dear friend who has often spoken of her arrival in a rural town in the far west of New South Wales when she was a small child. Like Frieda, her family emigrated to Australia from Germany. My friend, who has a profoundly Germanic first name, spoke no English when she started school and still remembers the comments about her ‘stinky’ sausage sandwiches. She too is resilient.
I highly recommend this book – as well as the other books in the New Australian series – as a timely reminder of the courage it takes to start a new life in a foreign land and of the complexities an unfamiliar culture can create. World politics makes it even harder.
Reviewed by Jennifer Mors
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