The username or password you entered is incorrect. Please try again or use the Forgot Password link
You have been successfully logged-in
Log in to your account
Password Recovery
To recover your password please fill in your email address
Create An Account
Please fill in below form to create an account with us
There were errors updating your password:
Your password was successfully updated
Password Reset
Please set your new password
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Apparently Shirley Barrett had almost finished this before her untimely death, and it is a welcome reminder of what a talented writer she was.
Mrs Hopkins, poor, pious and homeless, has accepted a position on Cockatoo Island at Biloela Industrial School for Girls, attracted by the notions of its new superintendent, Charles Crabback. As she discovers, he is fond of his good intentions, but ineffectual and impractical. And as we discover, Mrs Hopkins is herself as self-made as he is, having a past that is desperately sad and poverty-stricken and perhaps not as acceptable as she implies – so it is easy for her to sympathise and be beguiled by the girls under her charge. One in particular leads her to abandon her own moral precepts, as she sees the ghost of her dead daughter come to life again.
Set in 1871, this is full of historical details and colour, and like Mrs Hopkins, is not as straightforward as it seems! Lindy
'Engaging, original and full of curiosity and wit . . . I didn't want it to end.' Asher Keddie
'Bursting with life . . . I was gripped from the first chapter.' Debra Oswald
'A subversive, dark delight.' Kat Stewart
'Barrett is a masterly world-builder.' New York Times
On a rainy night in 1871, an idealistic schoolmistress arrives on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. Mrs Hopkins doesn't know what to expect from the notorious Biloela Industrial School for Girls, but nothing could prepare her for what she encounters inside the high sandstone walls: the conditions are dismal, the rules are largely conceptual, and the girls spend most of their time finding creative ways to outsmart the adults.
Very quickly, Mrs Hopkins realises that noble intentions won't be enough to plough through the chaos around her. An unconventional school requires unconventional methods, and Mrs Hopkins is going to have to find her own ways to reach her lively, lost charges. But her own ghosts have followed her to Cockatoo Island, and refuse to stay hidden for much longer.
This witty, surreal and poignant final novel from Shirley Barrett is about what destroys us, what sustains us, and what we carry with us from one world into the next.
By:
Shirley Barrett Imprint: Allen & Unwin Country of Publication: Australia Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 153mm,
Weight: 472g ISBN:9781761068522 ISBN 10: 1761068520 Pages: 448 Publication Date:04 June 2024 Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
Shirley Barrett was born in Melbourne in 1961 and is best known for her work as a screenwriter and director. Her first film, Love Serenade, won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996. It was followed by Walk The Talk (2000) and South Solitary (2010). She also had a distinguished career writing and directing for television, including Heartbreak High, Love Child, Love My Way and Offspring. Shirley's first novel, Rush Oh!, was published in 2015, and her second novel, The Bus on Thursday, in 2018. Shirley died in Sydney in August 2022 after a long illness. She was adding the final touches to Mrs Hopkins at the time of her death.
Reviews for Mrs Hopkins
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Apparently Shirley Barrett had almost finished this before her untimely death, and it is a welcome reminder of what a talented writer she was.
Mrs Hopkins, poor, pious and homeless, has accepted a position on Cockatoo Island at Biloela Industrial School for Girls, attracted by the notions of its new superintendent, Charles Crabback. As she discovers, he is fond of his good intentions, but ineffectual and impractical. And as we discover, Mrs Hopkins is herself as self-made as he is, having a past that is desperately sad and poverty-stricken and perhaps not as acceptable as she implies – so it is easy for her to sympathise and be beguiled by the girls under her charge. One in particular leads her to abandon her own moral precepts, as she sees the ghost of her dead daughter come to life again.
Set in 1871, this is full of historical details and colour, and like Mrs Hopkins, is not as straightforward as it seems! Lindy
