The Midlands

By Kate Gordon

Reviewed by Margaret McKay-Lowndes

Kate Gordon is the award winning author of not only Aster’s Good Right Things which won the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award in 2021, but also many other delightful middle grade novels. Her latest offering, The Midlands, does not disappoint with its cast of entertaining characters, rich prose, an intriguing puzzle and more than a touch of whimsy.

It is 1916 in Tasmania where we meet the five sisters as they farewell their father who has enlisted to fight in the Great War. The girls are not happy that they are moving to the bare and barren Midlands in the centre of Tasmania. Each of them has unique and notable features to their personalities. Bethsheba is a scientist, Esther is into fashion, Lark (the narrator) is the imaginitative storyteller and The Poppet is the toddler who enjoys pretending to be a stone. Alice, the babe-in-arms is very unsettled, creating a great burden for the always-fatigued and touchingly sad mother, who remains nameless for most of the story. As the father departs, the family moves to the Midlands of Tasmania so that the mother’s parents, the grandmother and the grandfather can support them.

Setting is important here, as Gordon examines the role of women and girls at this time. While the socially ambitious mother wants her girls to be raised as ‘proper ladies’ the personalities of the girls, particularly Lark, balk at this treatment, questioning the need for pigeon-holing. Although this seems like a modern attitude, presented through these wild characters, this resistance seems natural.  Rebellious acts ensue, the girls indulging in the painting of grandfather’s cows among other things, entertaining the reader and leading the mother to engage a French governess, who is not all she seems.

Lark’s imagination drives the plot forward, as she suspects the identity of the governess, and fantasises that her father is not really away at the War. What is true and what is just Lark’s storytelling running away with her? Gordon tantalises us with her hints. She has characters eating apples, reminding us of fairy tales, witches and potions. Bethsheba, (Sheb) is always stirring up concoctions and enjoys using oleander, whose sap is famously dangerous. And what is the meaning of the ribbons which Lark notices tied around trees? Is this a message from her father? Does the governess have anything to do with it?

The prose throughout is lusciously lyrical, the author drawing on beautiful words to at times create whimsy and comedy, at others to introduce a sense of foreboding and looming danger: “A glinting silver knife appeared between my eyes. After a long pause, my assailant murmured, ‘That is my apple.’ The face of the governess was reflected in the blade.”

This is just one example of the many pleasingly rich phrases and expressions which permeate Kate Gordon’s writing. Along the way, the girls reference many other texts such as Seven Little Australians, creating easter eggs for observant readers.

Lovers of literary fiction will enjoy this story which is one of those tales which has the capacity to grow with the reader, as different meanings can be noticed as children develop maturity. Highly recommended for age 12+

Riveted Press 2026

Kate Gordon