The albatross muff

Barbara Hanrahan

When Papa dies in 1855, Stella, her mother, the baby and one cow embark for England, leaving Australia behind. Mama is captivated by the corrupt Mr Backhouse. Stella has no senese that evil can follow the killing of an albatross, now hanging in a muff around Mama's neck. Only Moak, her ex-convice nurse, has the power to protect her. Life in London is briefly idyllic until Moak, her stomach swollen, is put out in the street with the cat's meat man and the lamplighter. Mr Backhouse returns and the story grows increasingly sinister. Stella will never go back to Australia except in her dreams. In 'The Albatross muff', a tender and intensely individual evocation of Victorian childhood merges with a Dickensian fairy story which becomes a feverish nightmare.