Lilian Turner

A few months ago I was introduced to Australian literature from the turn of the twentieth century. My friend Elizabeth suggested reading Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner (1872-1958). So, I dutifully headed to Project Gutenberg. But instead of this author, I found myself reading a book by her lesser known sister, Lilian Turner (1867-1956). I can’t remember why exactly. It was a Sunday morning and maybe I just didn’t feel like having to get to know seven characters in one go. The Lilian Turner book was called An Australian Lassie (1903). It was quite interesting to read about this new setting of Willoughby, just across the water from Sydney. The main character in the story is Elizabeth Bruce, twin sister of Cyril. Her mother was disowned by her father when she married a penniless author. Betty, as she’s called, longs for wealth and makes several attempts to get her brother adopted by her grandfather, Captain Carew, who lives just next door but never speaks to his daughter or any of his grandchildren, being a proud and stubborn old man. Instead, he has adopted the son of the man whom he intended his daughter to marry. John Brown arrives in the neighbourhood and makes life hell for the Bruce children, especially Cyril. However, he comes to have a reluctant admiration for the feisty Betty and a sort of friendship is struck up between them. They both dream of getting away and having an adventurous life. Although the girl and boy are only twelve and thirteen, respectively, they decide to sneak off to Sydney to make their fortunes. Betty earns a few shillings by singing in the streets. But eventually they are returned home by the police. Captain Carew, looking at his granddaughter, feels affection for her, but is too stubborn to admit it. The story ends happily enough, although the Bruce family do not find wealth. The moral of the story is that money does not ensure happiness. Betty’s parents, despite their poverty, are always happy together, while the rich Captain Carew is portrayed as a proud and bitter old man. I read this pleasant story in one day; my first taste of Australian literature. 

I discovered that there was a sequel called Betty the Scribe (1906). In this story, Betty is nineteen. She has just lost her mother and been encumbered with her numerous little siblings. Her big sister, Dot, is living the high life with a wealthy friend. Dot is the one on whom her parents built all their hopes, being educated privately and the only one of the family that enjoys any sort of luxury. Betty is an aspiring writer, having taken after her father. But she can’t find the time or the peace to write because of her many household duties. The first half of the book is one long tale of woe, filled with death and frustration. Cyril’s role in the plot is greatly reduced and the focus shifts to Dot. Little sister Nancy idealizes her and has a very strained relationship with Betty. Nancy writes to Dot, begging her to come home. Dot is all set for a trip to New Zealand, but struggles with the guilt of leaving all the donkey work to Betty. After her trip to New Zealand, she decides that her duty is at home. With Dot running the house, and with quite a knack for it, Betty is now free to pursue her writing career in the city. Her career meets with mixed success. John Brown returns from college and announces to Captain Carew that he cannot be his heir and that his wealth should go to the Bruce family. The old man offers Betty a chance to be his heiress, but she refuses. However, soon afterwards, he dies suddenly and leaves everything to her anyway. John Brown reappears and hints that he wants to marry Betty, but the book ends with Betty’s refusal, although the reader cannot be sure that she will not recant.

This second book was not as good as the first one. The younger siblings who crave Betty’s attention are cute but annoying, and there is too much misery in the early chapters for the book to be a comfortable read. At the end, things get better, with Betty selling her first book for fifty pounds. Here there is a stark contrast. Although so many things go wrong for Betty, her career as a writer is somewhat idealized, as if the author were thinking “I wish this had happened to me”. The idea that a nineteen-year-old girl could turn out a novel in practically no time and get it accepted by the first publisher she sends it to is a bit hard to swallow. She also gets a job at the first newspaper she applies to, although she gets fired for not doing a very good job. Again, the recurring theme of happiness with a simple life at home runs through the story, especially after Dot’s homecoming. At least the author allows the family to be happy about Betty’s inheritance, although we don’t actually see her with the money, as she has to wait until she is twenty-one to get it.

As far as I can tell, this was the last appearance of Betty Bruce in Lilian Turner’s writing. Her next two books, published in 1908 and 1909, respectively, were Paradise and the Perrys and The Perry Girls. I may return to Lilian Turner one day. But now I’ve moved on to a heavier tome: Villette by Charlotte Brontë.