The Lighthorseman's Daughter

This novel was written over 25 years ago and reflects a simpler and easier writing style that may now seem old-fashioned to many, but it is still an absorbing and highly entertaining read that had me hooked.
 
The dramatic opening chapter sets the scene well as World War I veteran, Captain Jack McKenna, is gunned down on the steps of his Queensland home in a confrontation with police and bailiffs sent by bankers. His disabled widow, his daughter (Emma) and twin sons are left homeless and destitute. What follows is a long saga in which Emma is determined to care for her family, seek restitution and to see justice done. In the process, she will fall in love with a man whose life is complicated by dirty politics and she will make decisions that don’t always go to plan, some with disastrous consequences, and she will encounter moral and social prejudices, the ugly side of religious orders, anti-female opinion and even racism before life finally resolves itself for the better.
 
Rising out of the Great Depression, a hardline organisation known as the New Guard becomes a force to be recognised with across the country, being opposed to social benefits or help for the unemployed, and displaying thuggish behaviour. Those with wealth or standing in society show indifference towards the poor or those whose skin is a different colour. A brave few individuals take a stand against authority, often to their physical and mental cost, and through all of this Emma must establish and find her place.
 
There is history here that perhaps not many younger Australians know about and much of what took place in the 1920s/30s is reflected in what is happening around the world today in which fascism and right-wing movements are again on the rise. Abuses by the church, anti-immigration and racism are still hot topics today. So, on many levels, this story remains contemporary, and that makes it worth reading.
 
This would have been a five-star read for me, except the ending is a little rushed and the wrong man survived the Spanish Civil War to return to Emma’s arms. The other one in her life was a far superior individual on every level.
 
Four stars

amazon.com
 
Print copies may be found in second-hand bookshops. 

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