{"title":"The Matilda Saga","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"waltz-for-matilda-the-matilda-saga-1-book-jackie-french-9780732290214","title":"A Waltz for Matilda (The Matilda Saga, #1)","description":"The story behind Banjo Paterson's iconic Australian song.  Ages 10-14  'Once a jolly swagman camped by a Billabong  Under the shade of a Coolibah tree  And he sang as he watched and waited till his Billy boiled  You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me...'  In 1894, twelve-year-old Matilda flees the city slums to find her unknown father and his farm. But drought grips the land, and the shearers are on strike. Her father has turned swaggie and he's wanted by the troopers. In front of his terrified daughter, he makes a stand against them, defiant to the last. 'You'll never catch me alive, said he...'  Set against a backdrop of bushfire, flood, war and jubilation, this is the story of one girl's journey towards independence. It is also the story of others who had no vote and very little but their dreams.  Drawing on the well-known poem by A.B. Paterson and from events rooted in actual history, this is the untold story behind Australia's early years as an emerging nation.  'Jackie French has a passion for history, and an enviable ability to weave the fascinating minutiae of everyday life into a good story.' Magpies Magazine","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49528142233873,"sku":"GOR012275588","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49663259738385,"sku":"GOR013732651","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50480043589905,"sku":"CIN073229021XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52109327696145,"sku":"GOR012269250","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52965141807377,"sku":"CIN073229021XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/073229021X.jpg?v=1751074652"},{"product_id":"girl-from-snowy-river-the-matilda-saga-2-book-jackie-french-9780732293109","title":"The Girl from Snowy River (The Matilda Saga, #2)","description":"In the tradition of THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER comes a gripping and courageous sequel to A WALTZ FOR MATILDA Ages:10-14  the year is 1919. thirty years have passed since the man from Snowy River made his famous ride. But World War I still casts its shadow across a valley in the heart of Australia, particularly for orphaned sixteen-year-old Flinty McAlpine, who lost a brother when the Snowy River men marched away to war. Why has the man Flinty loves returned from the war so changed and distant? Why has her brother Andy 'gone with cattle', leaving Flinty in charge of their younger brother and sister and with the threat of eviction from the farm she loves so dearly? A brumby muster held under the watchful eye of the legendary Clancy of the Overflow offers hope. Now Flinty must ride to save her farm, her family and the valley she loves. Set among the landscapes of the great poems of Australia, this book is a love song to the Snowy Mountains and a tribute to Australia's poets who immortalised so much of our land. the Girl from Snowy River combines passion, heartbreak, history and an enduring love and rich understanding of our land.\nIt continues the grand saga that began with A Waltz for Matilda. Praise for A Waltz for Matilda: '...this absorbing saga abounds in social and historical detail' Magpies","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49536854851857,"sku":"GOR013356974","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49580505825553,"sku":"GOR009896332","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50124808618257,"sku":"CIN0732293103G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53369859539217,"sku":"CIN0732293103A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0732293103.jpg?v=1751425633"},{"product_id":"ghost-by-the-billabong-book-jackie-french-9780732295295","title":"The Ghost by the Billabong","description":"The fifth title in the sweeping MATILDA series.  Ages: 12 years+ and crossover  Hippies wear beads, demonstrators march against the Vietnam War, and the world waits to see the first human steps on the moon's surface.  But at Gibbers Creek, Jed Kelly sees ghosts, from the past and future, at the Drinkwater billabong where long ago the swaggie leaped to his defiant death.  But is seventeen-year-old Jed a con artist or a survivor? When she turns up at Drinkwater Station claiming to be the great-granddaughter of Matilda Thompson's dying husband, Jed clearly has secrets. As does a veteran called Nicholas, who was badly wounded in the Vietnam War and now must try to create a life he truly wants to live, despite the ghosts that haunt him too.  Set during the turbulence of the late 1960s, this was a time when brilliant and little-known endeavours saw Australia play a vital role in Neil Armstrong's 'one giant leap for mankind' on that first unforgettable moon walk.  The fifth title in the highly acclaimed Matilda Saga, The Ghost by the Billabong is a story of deep conflicts and enduring passions - for other people, for the land, and for the future of humanity.  Age: 12 years+ and crossover","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50224692298001,"sku":"GOR011012928","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0732295297.jpg?v=1751393724"},{"product_id":"to-love-a-sunburnt-country-book-jackie-french-9780732297237","title":"To Love a Sunburnt Country","description":"Heartfelt, powerful and unforgettable. This extraordinary novel is set during WW2  and comes from one of Australia's best-loved storytellers.  As the Japanese invasion rips war-torn Malaya, Nancy dreams of Australia ...and a young man called Michael.  Nancy has driven cattle a thousand miles into Queensland and laughed at the disapproval of colonial memsahibs. But even Nancy of the Overflow cannot stop the Japanese Army surging towards Australia. As bombs fall on Singpore, she vows that her sister-in-law and baby nephew will survive. From the desperate prison camps of Malaya and Thailand to secret flights in tiny planes into Japanese-held New Guinea jungle, this is the story of Australia, from 1941 to 1946, when loving your country meant you had to fight for it, and for survival.  And for Nancy, her soldier brother Ben, conman Fred turned reluctant hero, and military intelligence agent Mr Harding, loving your country could also bring you home, alive.  From one of Australias most-admired storytellers comes a gripping and unforgettable novel based on true events and little-known people.  This is a story about ultimate survival and the deepest kinds of love.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50614350774545,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50614351560977,"sku":"GOR010961422","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0732297230.jpg?v=1751200501"},{"product_id":"to-love-a-sunburnt-country-book-jackie-french-9781460750421","title":"To Love a Sunburnt Country","description":"In war-torn Malaya, Nancy dreams of Australia - and a young man called Michael.  The year is 1942 and the world is at war. Nancy Clancy left school at fourteen to spend a year droving, just like her grandfather Clancy of the Overflow. Now sixteen, Nancys family has sent her to Malaya to bring home her sister-in-law Moira and baby nephew Gavin. Yet despite the threat of Japanese invasion, Moira resists, wanting to stay near her husband Ben.  But not even Nancy of the Overflow can stop the fall of Singapore and the capture of so many Australian troops. When their ship is bombed, Nancy, Moira and Gavin are reported missing.  Back home at Gibbers Creek, Michael refuses to believe the girl he loves has died. As Darwin, Broome and even Sydney are bombed, Australians must fight to save their country. But as Michael and the families of Gibbers Creek discover, there are many ways to love your country, and many ways to fight for it.  From one of Australias most-admired storytellers comes a gripping and unforgettable novel based on true events and little-known people.  This is a story about ultimate survival and the deepest kinds of love.\nA book about a love of country that is heartwarming and heartbreaking, and hard to put down.  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It's time too for Matilda Thompson to face her ghosts and the life that took a young girl from the slums of Grinder's Alley to being the formidable matriarch of Gibber's Creek.During this period of extraordinary social change and idealism, modern Australia would be born. And although the nation would dream of a better world, it would continue to struggle with opposing ideas of exactly what that better world might be.Jackie French, author of the bestselling To Love a Sunburnt Country, has woven her own experience of that time into an unforgettable story of a small rural community and a nation swept into the social and political tumult of the early 1970s. A time that would bear witness to some of the most controversial events in Australian history; and for Matilda, a time that would see her vision made real, without blood spilled upon the wattle.Praise for To Love a Sunburnt Country:'a book about love of country that is heartwarming and heartbreaking, and hard to put down'The Advertiser, 4 stars","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51551924551953,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51551924617489,"sku":"GOR014326091","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1460751280.jpg?v=1750758070"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/the-matilda-saga-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}