Mary Grant Bruce married an English man, George Bruce and the family moved between Europe and Australia several times. The books were influential: Auslit says: “Scholars have argued that Bruce's depiction of the bush in her popular series and other books had an enormous impact on the way white Australians viewed their relationship with the land.” In later editions, the Billabong books have been edited: some of their views and assumptions are no longer considered acceptable. Australians, and not only children, looking at Billabong, could see themselves as they wanted to be - mates in fortune and adversity, sturdy, decent and fearless inheritors of a tough, but rewarding land.” (Lynne Strahan) “The Lintons' world, threatened from outside, withstood challenge, unchanged and untarnished. The Lintons had become part of Australian national life, and part of how they saw themselves. Its publication by Ward Lock in London also saw her change of name, Mary being regarded as more saleable than Minnie.Īlthough Mary Grant Bruce’s own sister- in- law, Lady Evelyn Seton, wrote a denunciation of the books and advised Mary to cut herself free from them, she carried on. This first appeared as a serial in the Leader, and with it, the Linton family was launched. The series stretched to 15 titles, starting with A Little Bush Maid in 1910. Her publications were many, but her best known series was the Billabong books. She then started work as a journalist, continuing to write articles for magazines while she wrote her books. She won the Shakespeare Society’s annual prize several times, having started writing at the age of seven, with an epic on a mad Tsar. Mary Grant Bruce (1878 - 1958) was born in Victoria, Australia, and died in Sussex.
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