The Drover's Wife

by Henry Lawson

A famous Australian short story

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Australia, School, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

Paperback

First published August 3, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer".[1] He was the son of the poet, publisher and feminist Louisa Lawson.
For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_La... .

Reviews

[Jasmin Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Drover's Wife was quite a lovely piece of Australian literature. I often find myself bored and/or uninterested in depictions of the Australian bushland, and literature set in colonial times. However, this story is written artistically, and resonates with me as an Australian even today. I also found quite a deal of biblical references, which did take me a couple of re-reads to fully pick up on. However, I think these references help depict an almost gothic atmosphere in the story.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: A short story about a woman who is left alone with her four children while her husband is away droving their livestock. A poisonous snake under their home causes uneasiness.

ESPAÑOL: Cuento corto sobre una mujer que se queda sola con sus cuatro hijos mientras su marido está lejos arreando el ganado. Una serpiente venenosa bajo la casa les causa inquietud.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read online. For anyone interested the link is below.

[emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely to listen to this with mum on the drive to go away but the narrator just wasn’t for me and I found it hard to keep engaged with the story

I love the Australian landscape though

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Initially I thought this was a pretty good short story and honestly I was surprised to see such an independent and strong woman as the main character, given that it was written by a male. I did enjoy the gothic imagery especially when she waits for the snake. The story does seem to be kind of superficial in a way. Like to me it wasn't very believable that women in those times coped that competently in the Australian bush but I guess Lawson focussed more on the Australian landscape, in this case the antagonist, forces her to become a strong and independent woman in order to protect her children.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating glimpse into a drover's wife life in the Australian bush. A woman that lives in seclusion with her children in a harsh and unforgiving land while her husband works away from home as a drover. I found this short story well written and entertaining.

[Jane Milton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s actually great. So much is implied in the sparse prose. Lines like ‘he sometimes forgot he was married’ and ‘heaven help her! She takes pleasure in the fashion-plates’ convey the solitude and thwarted dreams of the self-depreciating (yet rock solid) nameless woman.
I would have loved to hear more about Black Mary ‘the whitest gin in all the land’, and can see why Leah Purcell picked up that thread.
One thing that annoyed me was the unnecessary racism in the part where Lawson attributes the baby’s fear to her mother’s sooty face and borrowed trousers making her look like a ‘black man’. Even allowing for the time, the assumption that the child’s fear was based on race - and not on her mother’s dishevelled look and being left to scream on the ground while the fire literally burnt around her- is highly far-fetched.

[Lily Bee]

Felt like necessary reading before diving into ‘The Story Thief’ by Kyra Geddes - it feels very of it’s time and while there were some beautiful visuals, I’m certain I will enjoy Geddes tear into it up than I enjoyed the story itself.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely to listen to this Henry Lawson classic short story as we begin our holiday drive. Classic story - loved to imagine the Drovers Wife as she walked through the bush on Sunday stroll - all dressed up with her young ones and no one else to see on the way.

[Gabby Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how she is written. Great short story about an ambitious woman trapped in the repetitive terrain of the Australian outback. She makes the most of what she has. She defeats the threats of nature and man not with a lack of fear, but despite her fear.

[Sunshine Biskaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Drover's Wife" by Henry Lawson
Reviewed on 12 Aug 2022

This is not a book, but rather a classic Australian short story. I have only recently come across this short story after reading Leah Purcell's "The Drover's Wife", which came into fruition with Henry Lawson's short story as her inspiration. I have found a link and read this story online.

There is so much heart, resilience, loneliness, appreciation, triumph and perseverance in such few paragraphs. The life of a drover's wife comes with many sacrifices and being in isolation in far away places, raising young children and having to learn to be tough. The lady in this short story is nameless. She has four young children who she has to rear without her husband. She is up all night waiting for a snake to come out from behind the wall so she can keep her family safe. She has to fend for herself when labourers want to stay into the night, after realising that there is no man around. She finds a bit of security in her big dog-of-all-breeds named Alligator. Even her son is empathetic and can see her struggles and tells her that when he grows up, he will not be a drover. He can see that the life of a drover's wife is one of loneliness and sacrifices.

I am glad I've come across this short story. The prose is beautiful and easy to read. The story exudes the immense vastness of the Australian bush and the loneliness it can bring when a family is broken apart by hard-working patriarchs who are far away and fearless women who fend with their lives to protect their children. Australia is a beautiful country with resilient people who have had to withstand the harshness that is the country, the cruelness that Mother Nature can sometimes bring with droughts and floods, and the significant sacrifices that families make to earn a living and feed their families. Australia is a country full of history and I'd be interested in hearing the point of view of an Indigenous person about this short story.

The "Drover's Wife" by Leah Purcell is a much, much different book to this short story.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this Australian short story as part of my English class in uni. It deals with the idea of loneliness, vulnerability and isolation in marriage as well as the hardships of the Australian bush. Lawson highlights these themes through his description of the Australian landscape. There is plenty of symbolism and allegorical gestures in this short story, from the snake to the husbands pants. What I found most interesting though is the narrative structure, which takes the form of third-person omniscient. This narration allows us as readers to delve into the innermost thoughts of drover's wife. Her loneliness and diminished hopes are elucidated and mimic memories that she must relive. This was definitely an interesting read.

[Lou Silluzio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Aussie novel depicting the true hardships of the Australian bush. Absolute classic.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story about the unrealised heroics of a mother.

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a child and loved it. I re-read it as we were reading Leah Purcell s drovers wife for book club. I had remembered the story but forgotten the sparse beauty of the writting.

[TAB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across a portrait of Henry Lawson in the Gallery of New South Wales which put me on to this author in the first place, my having never heard of him in America at all. The description on the portrait also mentioned this story and I was intrigued enough to find it online and read it, but after reading the story coupled with another painting in that same gallery really affected me. The second painting was called "Waiting" by Gordon Coutts and depicts a young woman in full dress, head to foot, waiting at a wayside station (presumably for a man) somewhere in the Australian bush. This painting appropriately spurred my imagination when reading The Drover's Wife as I saw her much the same except with the additional responsibilities of children. Suffice it to say that I recognize now that tough times can be a lot tougher.

[Suzesmum · Rating 4 out of 5]

8🇦🇺🎧AUSTRALIA: Hardly a book - a short story at best, this is a classic tale of the harsh conditions Australian pioneer women suffered in the early years of settlement. Lawson is one of Australia’s most well-regarded colonial writers, and he is famous depiction the desperation and isolation of his characters as well as the harsh beauty of the Australian bush. I read this to remind myself of the exquisite literary ability and to set the scene for my next book, which is an Indigenous response to the same story.

[Robert Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story told in the third person and without much emotion. I came to this after watching Leah Purcell’s reimagined film version of the story. Well worth viewing, it expands significantly the plot and introduces the themes of racism and violence against women,not present in the original Henry Lawson short story.

[Berfin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good way of telling the life of a woman in bush-life. When her husband is away for work, she has the responsibilities and a life in monotony. She has so many responsibilities, yet few life, no name, little pleasure...
I need to keep the rest for seminar paper✌️

[Lorraine McCleary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Henry Lawson is an Australian short story writer. There are several good outback stories, mostly the few talking about the hard life of women in the outback. Most of the other stories tended to be about the drunks and mate's antics which I did not enjoy.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story of a mother's commitment and sacrifice in the Australian Outback.

[Chitraksh Ashray · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice short story.

[Kriti Chetri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!

[Miss Nessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting read after experiencing the movie by Leah Purcell.

[BuchBesessen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*.

[Roaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.75

[Giselle Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

trash i read for school

[Kjan · Rating 1 out of 5]

read it in english

[Issy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"would recomend to anyone who wants a thrill" - May 2023

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent – I was shocked by the behaviour of the aboriginal man but then when you are pushed to your limits what would you do?????