Description
A compelling historical fiction adventure, set during the Australian gold rush when daring, dangerous and bold bushrangers were both feared, and legendary. Award-winning author, Sophie Masson asks what makes a hero, or a villain?
Lily and her parents are travelling performers delayed in Canowindra, just as famous bushranger Ben Hall and his gang - who has pulled off the biggest gold robbery ever - arrive. The gang hold everyone in town hostage– but instead of threats, hold a strange, giant three day party, and Lily is in enthralled. She writes a secret play 'Bold Ben Hall' and dreams of sending it to a famous theatre company in Sydney or Melbourne…
Meanwhile, in Forbes, stable boy Sam works for Sir Frederick Pottinger, Ben Hall’s nemesis. Sam who dreams of helping Sir Fred to catch Ben Hall…
When Lily and Sam meet, the two are soon at loggerheads about their heroes determined to prove the other wrong...and to try any means to do so!
A gripping and unusual adventure, set against a background of the hectic, action-packed atmosphere of the booming Gold Rush towns. It also asks important questions: what is a hero, what is a villain? And how do we separate fact from fiction?
Review
Set in New South Wales during the early 1860’s, this is the story of bushranger Ben Hall and his gang.
When Ben Hall and the other bushrangers hold up the town of Canowindra, everyone is forced to the local hotel. Lily and her family are theatre folk, who travel the country performing plays, and find themselves caught up in all of this. But this is not your usual bushranger scenario – no one has been robbed, there has been no violence, and the food, drinks and accommodation of everyone forced to be there are being taken care of by the bushrangers.
Lily befriends Polly, a young girl working at the hotel, and she tells Lily all that she knows of Ben Hall - that he has been hard done by, and falsely targeted by the police, particularly Sir Frederick Pottinger. Lily is fascinated with the story, and she herself has seen the softer side of Ben Hall during their forced stay at the hotel, so she starts to write a play about the strange events going on around them.
After Lily, her family and the theatre company move on to Forbes, talk of what happened in Canowindra has spread through the district, and everyone wants to know the truth, including Polly’s cousin, Sam. Sam is clearly on the side of the police, having known Sir Frederick personally. Can these two new friends convince each other that Ben Hall is a hero, or a villain? Or is that a question that will never really be answered?
This is a great historical story about such an important time in our history. Lily is a smart, determined and self-assured girl, particularly for the time in which this story is set. It is a story that will be thoroughly enjoyed by all those who love historical fiction, and is best suited for those in upper primary and lower secondary.
