I love Kate Grenville but initially thought this book was too fanciful. Then I read her commentary and realised it was based on her grandmother.
Amazing, suprising,and sad as well.
Life was tough in those days

I was initially unsure about this book but also quite intrigued, then I found out it was nominated for the women's prize, I thought okay let's see. This book did not disappoint, I don't want to say too much because I think you should go in not knowing a lot, but read it!

Really enjoyed this book. Based on the life of the author's grandmother, it tells the problems of being a female at the early part of the 20th century with desires in life that society won't allow. Very well written story, a gripping read.
Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book

This book sits in an interesting place between genres, being a fictionalised biography of someone related to the author, but who Grenville is only able to discover through family stories and physical artefacts related to her.

On the surface, I really like the idea of this book, but I found that the end result unfortunately did not work for me- I found that it did not sit comfortably as a novel, being a bit too descriptive of a series of circumstances rather than characterisation, and as a biography felt that it did not fully understand its subject.

Overall, still enjoyable, but it sat oddly for me, unfortunately.

“What was a woman to do, but marry and once you were married you belonged to your husband’s world and had to turn your back on your own”
It’s the fictionalised story of the author’s formidable grandmother - a woman ahead of her time who isn’t ready to settle down as a wife and mother in rural Australia
Dolly is a pioneering woman, bold and ambitious, a complex character who broke the mould.
She longs to have an education and do something with her life - her pushing to pursue these goals comes at a price, especially for her husband and two children
Very character driven and such an immersive read, showing what it was like to be a woman at the beginning of the 19th century and obstacles and hardships put in their way to make a life they could call their own
Thanks #kategrenville @canongatebooks & @netgalley for the interesting read

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, this is a fictionalised account of the author’s grandmother’s life and I was pleased that my Netgalley request was accepted.

Dolly was born when women were expected to marry and forget any career dreams of their own. Dolly’s idea of becoming a teacher was met with a reply of ‘over my dead body’ from her father.

Unable to see another way to escape her parent’s farm, she eventually marries and takes the chance to make a better life for her and her family. Dolly’s restlessness forms the majority of the story, as we follow her through marriage, parenthood, and old age.

I disliked a lot about Dolly, particularly her attitude to her children, but I was impressed by her determination to succeed and her creativity in identifying business opportunities.

This is a book with a petty cold, selfish, unlikeable lead character and a largely repetitive storyline, but I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

The blurb
Dolly Maunder is born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society’s long-locked doors are just starting to creak ajar for determined women. Growing up in a poor farming family in rural New South Wales, Dolly spends her life doggedly pushing at those doors. A husband and two children do not deter her from searching for love and independence.

Restless Dolly Maunder is a subversive, triumphant tale of a pioneering woman working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, who is able – despite the cost – to make a life she could call her own.

If I were sat for dinner with the author I would be fascinated by the story of her grandmother. An ordinary woman, at the turn of the 19th century, the challenges and frustrations she faced and how she made a life for herself despite the issues of her time. But as a book, well, the story never came alive for me. Maybe because it is historical fiction and that is not my genre, I don’t know, but it felt dry.

A tribute to the strong, brave women of the turn of the nineteenth century, Restless Dolly Maunder is based on Kate’s maternal grandmother and is her imaging of the life that Dolly would have lived. Dolly didn’t want to accept societal norms, she wanted more from life, and this led to her living a life where she was always searching for more and never really happy. She was determined that her children ought to be able to live a better life than her, especially her daughter Nance, Kate’s mother and in her own way she achieved that.
For me at times the book lacked depth and I felt like I wanted more, especially from the characters and their relationships and struggles. However, it was a jolly good yarn and once I’d read the author’s notes at the end I understood what she was trying to convey, that is the role that so many ordinary women played in paving the way for women’s rights.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Cannongate Books for an arc in exchange for a review.

Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville is based on the life of her grandmother, smart, independant and looking for a life different to that expected of women in the 1800s. I am a real fan of this theme in historical fiction as it celebrates a much under-represented aspect of history, especially the history of womens fight for independance and equal rights

The connection to Dolly Maunder lends itself to a beautiful narrative, anecdotal, conversational, highy enjoyable

Thank you to Netgalley, Canongate Books and Kate Grenville for this outstanding ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Restless Dolly Maunder is inspired by the author's own grandmother.
Superbly researched and gives a fascinating insight into what life was like for women who grew up in the early 1900s and importantly, addresses how dissatisfied with how they were expected to live in comparison to their male counterparts.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, Restless Dolly Maunder is veteran Kate Grenville’s latest novel. In this historical fiction she reimagines the story of her grandmother’s life.

Dolly Maunder grows up on a rural farm but when she realises that the hard work and daily struggle of her mother and older sisters will be her future, even when she marries on to another farm, she decides she wants a different life.

Dolly strives to become a teacher, but her father won’t allow it. So instead, following her marriage, she persuades her husband to invest in businesses - running shops, bars and hotels in an attempt to move up in the world. Along the way Dolly has children, but she isn’t naturally maternal, struggling to connect with them and always focused on her next business venture. Similarly she doesn’t connect with her husband, and soon after discovering his indiscretions, works to avoid him as much as she can, resigned to the fact that she cannot leave him. Even the men she falls for, she is wary of, aware that there cannot be an equal partnership between them. Dolly is eternally dissatisfied with her life and place as a woman, and her actions constantly rail against this.

So ‘Restless’ Dolly keeps upping and moving her family, constantly moving on to the next thing, much to the dismay of her husband and children. The novel captures the changing times of the early 20th Century as Dolly fights for her place in the world. It certainly feels episodic, each time she moves, and at times possibly a little repetitive in it’s structure. Just when we think Dolly might have ‘made it’ or settled down for her happy ending, the force of history catches up with her, with the global crash of 1929 and the war years taking their toll. Being based on a true story means there is no romanticising the plotline. The characters are at the mercy of reality and it’s often bleak.

Dolly is a dry, practical character. She is hard to relate to, only realizing those connections with those she loves when it is far too late. Of course she has to forge her life in an incredibly unfair patriarchal society, which might elicit some reader sympathy but makes Dolly hard and firm in her views. While it’s no surprise that a world like this might make someone bitter, it becomes relentless, and a little one-dimensional for Dolly’s character, we don’t really get to see her complexities.

Restless Dolly Maunder is certainly an interesting read - particularly recounting a perspective we might not otherwise encounter, from a woman in rural Australia during this time. However, it’s a bleak novel, which lays bare the stark realities and struggles of one woman’s life, without much tenderness or hope.

Shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for fiction.

This is a fictional account of Greenville’s maternal grandmother. Dolly Maunder was born in 1881 in rural NSW. She enjoyed school and excelled there but had to leave the day she turned 14 to work on the farm - to the drudgery of a woman’s world. She finds a way out of the farm and bit by bit makes a better life for herself.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this story of Dolly Maunder, a great insight into life through the early 1900s and what it meant to be a woman then. The writing was engaging, Dolly such an energetic person who felt suppressed and her story of her life and how it all played out. If you like historical fiction I’d highly recommend.

I quickly became engrossed in Kate Grenville’s tale of her grandmother’s life. She portrays a woman of unbreakable spirit when her gender, religion and class all conspire to limit and constrain her life but not her hopes and dreams. Dolly is a complex character and this account of her and her life is neither sentimental or forgiving but is a fascinating glimpse in to how society has changed in just a few decades.
Thanks to Netgalley and Canongate for the opportunity to read an early copy of the book.

I loved this portrait of a woman born into 1880s rural Australia and constrained by her family’s relentless poverty and the limitations imposed on women.
But that makes it sound dull, whereas Dolly is a bold and vibrant character, and we have the privilege of seeing into her soul.
Dolly is also Grenville’s grandmother and it’s so interesting to understand what lies behind an apparently stern and unloving woman.
You can always be sure of Grenville’s writing too, and this is beautifully written - understated and lyrical.
I would really recommend this novel: it’s not big and showy but it will appeal to readers with a curiosity into what makes people tick, in a really interesting setting of rural Australia.

I'm surprised this book has received so many plaudits and been put on lists for book awards. I found it rather trying. Dolly Maunder, although based on the author's grandmother follows the of trodden road of being a story about a poor but fierecely intelligent girl who pulls herself out of poverty. However, plucky Dolly is pretty awful to have as a close relative and she doesn't seem to have much charater growth or insight.

Beautiful writing and poignant story. Dolly Maunder shows you what woman can achieve when they put their mind to it.

Unfortunately this one really wasn't for me. My full review is included in my Women's Prize Reading Vlogs, Part 3!

Dolly Maunder, born in late 19th century Australia, has ambition and wants a life beyond the rural setting in which she grew up. She was required to go to school which awoke a desire for a bigger, freer life and we travel with her as she tries to make that happen. But, often, she can't escape the limits placed on women in that time and, perhaps more importantly, her lack of ability to connect with those closest to her.

This book, based on the author's own grandmother, was a thought-provoking read.

Dolly was the author's grandmother and this is the story of her life, from very poor beginnings, through two world wars and the depression.
Dolly's life moves so fast that the reader doesn't have time to engage with where she is at, before Dolly moves house and career yet again. While reading, I kept waiting for the story to begin... However I realise that this is the point - her life is her story, not one big event to write about but the sum of hundreds of decisions and regrets. In the end, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about life as an ambitious but downtrodden woman at the turn of the 20th century.
"She just wanted to be a woman with the same freedom to choose that a man had".