Book Review

Dear Fran, Love Dulcie: Life and Death in the Hills and Hollows of Bygone Australia by Victoria Twead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had looked forward to reading this book very much and I was not disappointed. Looking back at the title, it is perfectly chosen. The letters are written from Bungundarra, which translates as “hills and hollows”, where Dulcie lived with her family. She tells her penfriend Fran, in Detroit, USA, about her life, and, sadly, documents the bereavements which she suffers.

When we are looking to understand a different age or a different place, personal testimony is like gold dust, especially when it is freely given and from the heart. Dulcie had no idea that her letters would ever be read by anyone other than Fran and her family, and they are extraordinary. It is wonderful that Fran kept them and that Dulcie’s family gave permission for them to be published.

You will be shocked, amazed, fascinated, and intrigued by this book, which gives an insight into life in this beautiful but unforgiving region of Australia.

Each book purchased will help support Careflight, an Australian aero-medical charity that attends emergencies, however remote.


Highly recommended.




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