Hardship, adventure and love all combine with a breathtaking backdrop to create a story which is able to take the reader straight back to Australia in the 1800s.
Feature image credit: HarperCollins Australia
Well, Darry Fraser has done it again! Another sweeping tale set in the late 1800s, this is Fraser’s 10th novel about hardship, adventure, friendships, and love. This time the backdrop is the River Darling, once a vibrant system used as transport between towns. River boats plied these waters, taking passengers and goods into places where no roads had yet been built. It was a time when men relied on the river flowing, but not too much. Boats would be unable to move in times of drought, and floods would cut people off from towns and their homesteads.
Australia in the late 1800s was going through a huge upheaval. Men were fighting for fair pay, unions were becoming stronger, a depression was on its way and heavy rains were going to make life very difficult for those who relied on the mighty Australian river systems.
The Night on the River Darling is the story of Tess Hawthorn. Living in Echuca with her abusive husband Alby, she decides to take her chances one night and run away. Unfortunately, when she arrives at the docks, it is pitch black and the boat she was going to catch is not where is should be. Tess ends up on the same boat as her husband and a bunch of non-unionists. Unknown to Tess, a childhood friend who has long held a torch for her, is also on the boat. And so begins Tess’s journey along the river, trying to hide as best she can until disaster strikes, and her life changes completely. This is Tess’s story. It is about resilience and rising from the ashes …. literally.
Fraser always does immaculate research. As readers, we can almost imagine being right there as part of the story, among the angry men who just want a fair go, and women and children struggling to survive with their men far away or in prison. We feel the hardships they had to endure just to get enough food to survive.
The way Fraser paints a picture of her protagonists’ surroundings helps us see the huge gum trees lining the at times fast-flowing Darling River. We can imagine the camps where people with no job prospects are living, and the small towns full of people going about their daily business. All are described with exceptional detail and we can almost taste, smell and hear what’s going on.
At times the reader may get fed up with the to-ing and fro-ing that is going on in Tess’s mind. Why is she unable to make a decisive decision? But we are seeing it from a 2025 point of view when many more women have a choice and life is hopefully easier. But not all women are so lucky, and I found myself thinking about those who still struggle with finding a safe place to live, keeping their children safe, and having enough food to eat. To many, The Night on the River Darling is just as relevant today.
It is towards the end where the pace really picks up and the book becomes very hard to put down as the reader is carried towards the conclusion of what is essentially a love story. But it is the history and the backdrop which makes this (and Fraser’s books in general) so good.
Reviewed by Sue Mauger
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: HarperCollins Australia
Released: December 2024
RRP: $32.99
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