Mrs Kelly: The astonishing life of outlaw Ned Kelly's mother, from the bestselling award-winning author of THE REMARKABLE MRS REIBEY, SISTER VIV and HUDSON FYSH by Grantlee Kieza

Mrs Kelly: The astonishing life of outlaw Ned Kelly's mother, from the bestselling award-winning author of THE REMARKABLE MRS REIBEY, SISTER VIV and HUDSON FYSH by Grantlee Kieza

The astonishing life of Ned Kelly's mother

While we know much about the iconic outlaw Ned Kelly, his mother Ellen Kelly has been largely overlooked by Australian writers and historians -- until now, with this vivid and compelling portrait by Grantlee Kieza, one of Australia's most popular biographers.

When Ned Kelly's mother, Ellen, arrived in Melbourne in 1841 aged nine, British convict ships were still dumping their unhappy cargo in what was then known as the colony of New South Wales. By the time she died aged ninety-one in 1923, having outlived seven of her twelve children, motor cars plied the highway near her bush home north of Melbourne, and Australia was a modern, sovereign nation.

Like so many pioneering women, Ellen, the wife of a convict, led a life of great hardship. Born in Ireland during a time of entrenched poverty and sectarian violence, she was a mother of seven when her husband died after months in a police lock-up. She lived through famine and drought, watched her babies die, listened through the prison wall while her eldest son was hanged and saw the charred remains of another of her children who'd died in a shoot-out with police. One son became Australia's most infamous (and ultimately most celebrated) outlaw; another became a highly decorated policeman, an honorary member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a worldwide star on the rodeo circuit. Through it all, 'the notorious Mrs Kelly', as she was dubbed by Victoria's Assistant Police Commissioner, survived as best she could, like so many pioneering women of the time.

By bestselling biographer Grantlee Kieza, Mrs Kelly is the astonishing story of one of Australia's most notorious women and her wild family, but it's also the story of the making of Australia, from struggling colony and backwater to modern nation.

Grantlee Kieza OAM is an award-winning journalist and Australia's No. 1 bestselling historical biographer with more than twenty highly acclaimed books to his name. Kieza held senior editorial positions at The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Courier-Mail for many years and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his writing. He is a Walkley Award finalist, an ABIA shortlisted author for Biography, an Indie Award and Age Book of the Year shortlisted author for Non-fiction. His nationally bestselling biographies include Mary Penfold, Mr and Mrs Gould, Sister Viv, Flinders, The Remarkable Mrs Reibey, Hudson Fysh, Lawson, Banks, Macquarie, Banjo, Mrs Kelly, Monash and Bert Hinkler.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780733338717
ISBN 10	0733338712
Title	Mrs Kelly: The astonishing life of outlaw Ned Kelly's mother, from the bestselling award-winning author of THE REMARKABLE MRS REIBEY, SISTER VIV and HUDSON FYSH
Author	Grantlee Kieza
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	ABC Books
Year published	2018-03-19
Number of pages	496
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.