Rating: 
Summary: half decent
Review: Jill Ker Conway was born in 1934 in Hillston, New South Wales, Australia. This memoir takes her from her birth up to her departure for graduate school in America; she would go on to become the first woman president of Smith College.I very much liked the first section of the book, which describes her young girlhood on a 30,000 acre sheep station in the Australian outback. It has much of the elegiac yearning of books like How Green Was My Valley (1939)(Richard Llewellyn 1906-1983) and West With the Night (1941) (Beryl Markham 1902-1986). But as the book goes along it really takes on a sort of self pitying tone that I found a bit hard to take. In particular, she complains several times about how they weren't taught in school about how badly the aborigines were treated and the precipitating cause of her flight from Australia is an incident that she attributes to pure sexism. But in general, the story seems to be saying, "Look at all I achieved despite my hard scrabble upbringing out in the bush." Meanwhile, the girlhood she describes, while it does seem a little lonely and quite taxing physically, comes across as nearly idyllic and an ideal background for future self reliance and achievement. Add to that the relative wealth that her family eventually accumulates and the fortuitous appearance of scholarship money at opportune moments and I have trouble seeing what she has to complain about, other than a quarrelsome, but obviously lonely, mother. She had me early, but lost me later--a half good book. GRADE: C
Rating: 
Summary: A book that will stay will me always.
Review: "The Western plains of New South Wales are grasslands." Grasslands that with their vastness, their cycles of drought and bounty, and above all their isolation, shaped a little girl who would one day become Smith College's first woman president. This book has been marketed as a coming of age story for girls. It's surely that, and a remarkable one. It is also (for this American reader, anyway) a fascinating look into a culture of many similarities - but with subtle, yet sometimes startling differences. Something else it ought to be is required reading for any young woman (particularly any gifted young woman!) trapped by a co-dependent relationship with her birth family. Read it, and think about what this world loses every time a woman capable of Jill Ker Conway's lifetime achievements subsumes her talents and sacrifices her dreams because the code of her childhood demands it. A book that will stay will me always. --Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"
Rating: 
Summary: Mental claustrophobia of an era
Review: I found this to be an uncomfortable read as I can totally empathise with the author, growing up in the same era and knowing the feeling of being out of sync with the older generation. I realise that this probably happens even now but at least these days, females have grown up knowing themselves to be the equal of males and without having to apologise for sometimes being smarter.Jill was fortunate to have a very good education but was also responsible for earning Australian government scholarships which are awarded solely on the good marks earned in exams( not by good luck as one reviewer implied).Even so, she was, not so subtley reminded that a woman's primary function was as a wife and mother and as a mere adjunct to her husband and even brothers. This state of affairs probably existed in all cultures at that time, and not just i Australia, but even as I read, that old feeling of suffocation was present...the feeling that you wanted more but of what, you couldn't say and your parents certainly didn't understand either.
Rating:
Summary: A book that will stay will me always.
Review: "The Western plains of New South Wales are grasslands." Grasslands that with their vastness, their cycles of drought and bounty, and above all their isolation, shaped a little girl who would one day become Smith College's first woman president. This book has been marketed as a coming of age story for girls. It's surely that, and a remarkable one. It is also (for this American reader, anyway) a fascinating look into a culture of many similarities - but with subtle, yet sometimes startling differences. Something else it ought to be is required reading for any young woman (particularly any gifted young woman!) trapped by a co-dependent relationship with her birth family. Read it, and think about what this world loses every time a woman capable of Jill Ker Conway's lifetime achievements subsumes her talents and sacrifices her dreams because the code of her childhood demands it. A book that will stay will me always. --Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed it beginning to end
Review: I found her story interesting and well written. I was interested in the culture and geography of Australia, as well as her story of finding her way in life. I quickly connected with her, and found her writing to be clear and honest. Contrary to what others may have said about this author, she had a tough childhood and adolescence, but thrived in spite of it.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating at first. Pedantic in the end.
Review: At first I could not stop reading and was highly fascinated by both the content and the way this book was written. In the end the book became a bit pedantic and longwinded.
Rating:
Summary: Coming of age in the Australian outback
Review: Jill Ker Conway started life on a remote sheep station in Australia, and eventually became a women's historian and the president of Smith College. This is the first volume of her memoirs, covering her childhood and adolescence. It is both a fascinating portrait of life on a sheep station and an inspiring coming-of-age story. Beautifully written.
Rating:
Summary: A delight to read !
Review: A beautifully written book and a delight to read.
A simple story splendidly told.
I couldn't wait to read her next book; 'True North' but was a little disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at the childhood of an independent woman
Review: Jill Kerr Conway went from an isolated Australian sheep farm in the bush to become the first president of Smith College. Her insatiable curiosity, her obvious intelligence, and her ability to transition from one culture to another with remarkable ease all account for her rise in academe.
The best part of this book, IMO, is the first two thirds; after that, it gets a little pedantic, almost as if she knew she'd finished with the good stuff and was just hustling along to get it all down and be finished with it.
Rating:
Summary: I REALLY LOVE THIS BOOK
Review: AND I FELT REALLY CONNECTED TO THE AUTHOR I really can't explain my feelings in words. Look at the subject first then read on. They are all by Dr. Jill Ker Conway (shes a phd). The titles are The Road from Coorain (also a Exxon Mobil Masterpiece Theater movie as well), True North, and A Women's Education. Is she orginally from New South Wales, Australia. Came to the United States for graduate school, but stayed there after that, but was Canada as well for 6 years. Boys you will also love reading them as well. Thank you.
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