Robin by Mary Grant Bruce (1930)

Robin

by Mary Grant Bruce

Angus and Robertson, 1930, black and white illustrated frontispiece, hardcover

Fair Condition, some edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, cracked hinge at front endpaper, previous owner’s gift inscription on front endpaper, some foxing to edge and pages, rubbing and wear to covers (see photographs)

“Robin is the story of a girl living in the Gippsland countryside, and of her adventures when bushfires sweep the area.  Mary Grant Bruce’s description of the coming of the Black Sunday bushfires is a very graphic piece of writing, and one of her best.  Somewhere behind the curtain (of haze) it was mounting, already giving promise of a day that should be hotter than anything they had yet endured—there was something sinister in its steady, unseen force.  The air of early morning had no sense of refreshment and coolness.  It was heavy to breathe, and profoundly still.  Not a flicker stirred a leaf in the garden.  And Robin suddenly realized that the busy chatter of awakening birds was altogether absent.  They were hiding in the trees; there was no merry flutter of wings, no cheery call of cockatoos beyond the creek.  The utter silence sent a little thrill of discomfort through her.”