Dame Nellie Melba

Gabiann Marin (author)

Rae Dale (illustrator)

New Frontier, Australia: October 2011; 111pp

ISBN: 9781921042645

Genres: biography, factual text

Issues: independence, talent

Born Helen Mitchell in 1861, an era when women were expected to aim for nothing more than marriage, the great singer had many hurdles to overcome before being made a Dame of the British Empire.

The social expectations of the time were that women would learn to manage a household, behave in a ladylike and compliant way and depend on their male relatives to make decisions about their life and future. Yet Helen was always a willful, determined child; her one love was music and nothing else mattered.

Gabiann Marin's well-researched writing gives the reader a clear understanding of the difficulties that Helen Mitchell had to overcome before she could make her name on the world stage.  Marin's work makes readers already familiar with Melba's achievements more aware than ever of how much she did for Australian singers, both male and female, at a time when 'the colonials' were judged as 'lesser' no matter how great their talent. Despite her difficult temperament, despite the hostility of the Australian media when she began her European career, Melba never forgot her origins, never ceased to show her love and loyalty of her homeland.

Marin's writing brings to life Melba as a person – a passionate, determined, generous woman with some very human flaws. Dale's illustrations give the reader insight into the lifestyle, costumes and expectations of the period. The strong narrative line of the biography is a great way of introducing younger readers to non-fiction texts and New Frontier's 'Aussie Heroes' series is addressing a significant hole in Australian children's literature.