Wandering Girl: Glenyse Ward

Here is a hidden story and its telling is long overdue. A young Aboriginal girl is released from the spartan strictness of mission upbringing and sent to work as a domestic servant on a property in the wealthy farming district. She is 16 and cut off from all help - a 24 hour captive of an aloof and puzzling family. Her initial reactions are hurt and astonishment but her resourcefulness grows with her experience of life. She's a survivor, despite petty tyranny and humiliating treatment, behaviour so callous it is hard to believe that this true account occurred only in the 1960s and not a hundred years ago.