A Place of Safety

Deborah Lisson (author) Mammoth Books, Australia: 1996; 209pp

ISBN: 1863307443

Genres: historical fiction, romance

Issues: family, identity, war

Winner: WA Premier's Award for Children's Literature, 2007.

Sally Armitage has been sent from wartime England to the safety of her aunt's home in country Australia. A reluctant refugee, the very different social structure and physical environment of Sawyer's Creek is a huge shock to Sally's system.

She comes from a town where class differences are still observed, where her mother would have been horrified if her daughter played with children of the local workers. It takes poor Sally quite some time to get used to the teasing manner of her peers at the Catholic school she attends, and to realise that her class-oriented view is completely inappropriate in her new home.

Life becomes easier, however, when the local doctor lends her his old horse, which, although no replacement for the beautiful animal she'd owned in England, does at least allow her to indulge her favourite hobby and gives her the means to explore the bush around her. When she finds an old hut, hidden in a forest clearing, she is astonished to find her private fairytale coming true, and that she must care for a mysterious young man who is on the run.

Sally's melodramatic perspective on the world is likely to get her into trouble, however, and she soon finds that dreams and reality do not mix well. Although she gradually settles into the local community, she finds herself caught up in an increasingly dangerous and alarming situation that is dominated by her fear of the war and how it is endangering her parents.

A pleasant enough adventure story, this is a highly romanticised piece of historical fiction.