Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French

by
February 2011, no. 328

A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French

HarperCollins, $19.99 pb, 479 pp, 9780732290214

A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French

by
February 2011, no. 328

Jackie French, a prolific author, is best known for her children’s books, with variations on historical themes clearly something of a specialty. A Waltz for Matilda, which seems to be aimed at a broader market, builds on the premise that the Jolly Swagman of Banjo Paterson’s song is not alone. His twelve-year-old daughter, Matilda, is with him and witnesses the whole upsetting scene. (When, years later, a friend points out that ‘they never mentioned you’ in the song, the proto-feminist Matilda replies, ‘No. The songs rarely mention the women.’)

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.