Playing Beatie Bow

I loved this book almost as much as the previous Ruth Park I read (Pink Flannel). Playing Beatie Bow works on several levels. First, it offers great entertainment just for the plot: Abigail, 14, a contemporary Sydney resident, travels in time back to 1873. There she becomes entwined in the life of a family from the Orkney Islands. Second, it is a coming-of-age novel that adults can enjoy as much as the target juvenile/YA audience. Abigail grows both physically and emotionally over the course of the story. Third, Abigail's thoughtful reflections on the differences in past and contemporary Sydney, both socially and physically, are fascinating.

An Australian YA book from the 80's, this was a RL book club read. Though not science-fiction so much as historical time-travel, the book feels akin to the Australian equivalent of A Wrinkle in Time.

Abigail is an unhappy 14 year old, bitter and bratty after her parents' separation. She spends time with her next-door neighbour, Justine, helping her out by taking Justine's two kids to the playground, where the youngest, Natalie, likes to watch the other kids play a game called 'Beatie Bow'; a cross between Bloody Mary and tag. Natalie and Abigail notice another child that only watches, the 'furry girl' that stands in the shadows. One day, Abigail sees the girl and approaches her, then gives chase as the girl runs away. As she runs down show more the street, she suddenly finds herself in 1873, stuck there until she helps the furry girl, who turns out to be Beatie Bow, and her family figure out how to save the family 'Gift'.

More than a few of my friends here consider this a beloved classic, so imagine my chagrin when I showed up to book club and had to admit I didn't like it. Fortunately, I wasn't alone. The book has a lot going for it: the writing is beautiful, the setting evocative; Park puts you in Sydney in 1873, and let me tell you, it's filthy. Park won the Australian Book of the Year Award in 1981 and it was well deserved.

But...I don't like time travel books, I'm not a fan of the dark edge so prevalent in even Australian YA, and most unfortunate of all, I didn't like a single character in this book. Abigail was a spoiled, whiney, brat; Beattie Bow was too ornery to be considered charming and the rest didn't get enough page time to be anything other that friendly shadows. Abigail's first love was just too trite; I couldn't buy it, it was all too neat and pat (although to be fair, I might have totally bought it when I was 12).

The book is a worthy read, I just wasn't the right audience for it. show less

I will forever remember the moment I first encountered this book. After a particularly mundane school day I plonked myself down in the backseat of our car and prepared for the drive home. However, instead of starting the engine my mother turned around and said, "I've got a small surprise for you. I was at a bookshop today and thought you might enjoy this." She then proceeded to hand me a copy of Playing Beatie Bow. Getting a book as a surprise gift truly made my day, I was almost giddy with anticipation to read it. I was nine years old, and although I liked it, I don't think I really understood it all.

Reading it as an adult I have a completely different appreciation of it.

I found it to be an easy, quick read. The events unfolded much show more faster given that my grown up brain was able to digest the themes of supernatural time travel, period English language, brothels and complicated emotional feelings much easier.

I still like Abigail and still found Beatie to be a little brat. The story moved at a quick pace and changed enough to keep you interested. I also appreciated the ending despite it's sappiness and that it 'tied everything up neatly'.

Upon re-reading I'm not sure I would give it to a 9 year old to read as it does peek into somewhat adult themes, but then again those themes flew right over my head back then and I loved the book. show less

Ruth Park is one of those authors I'm embarrassed not to have read before. I've known of her for years, since primary school when her novels were very popular, but somehow she didn't make it onto my bookshelves until recently with this Penguin Australia Popular Penguins edition.

What a great story! Although YA-aimed, I found this book eminently readable as a adult. Almost girls-own-adventure-ish, the "boy who doesn't really fit in is actually somebody very special" is in this case a feisty and intelligent 14-year-old girl living in 1980s Sydney who is drawn into a coming-of-age time-travel adventure.

I read compulsively and the 1/2 point off perfection is only because I found some of the plot points a little predictable. Perhaps if I'd show more read this 30 years or so ago things would have seemed less obvious.

Marvellous stuff, and I'll be seeking out more of her writing in the near future. show less

Abigail is dismayed to learn that her mother and father are contemplating getting back together and moving to another country to make a fresh start. She can’t understand why her mother would agree to take her father back, after he left her mother and the family for a young woman he met at work. Then Abigail suddenly and unexpectedly finds that she has traveled back in time to 1870’s Australia. After befriending people in the earlier time, Abigail is finally able to return to her own time with a deeper understanding of relationships.

The details of life in Australia almost a hundred and fifty years ago were fascinating. The speech patterns author Ruth Park used for her characters from the 1870’s were especially compelling. Though show more the story could have easily been a Sassy-Teen-Learns-Her-Lesson-and-Becomes-Nicer, Park went beyond stereotypes to make her characters nicely flawed and realistic. I enjoyed this first venture into Aussie August a lot. show less

Sometimes a film can lead you to a good book. I originally bought this film tie-in Puffin edition after seeing the 1986 feature film. I recently got the opportunity to see the film again (a little dated but still charming) so dug out and re-read the book. The book is better than the film, more layered and reflective. It's a time-travel story where a sulky 1980s teen goes back to Sydney of 1873 where she must fulfil a prophecy before she can return - in the mean time she falls in love, and grows up. The historical Sydney and the characters are beautifully evoked and I find this book extraordinarily moving. (It is Ruth Park writing so that should not be surprising!). And, as a bonus, if you visit The Rocks in Sydney you will find all the show more places still exist! show less

Abigail Kirk wasn't Abigail really, she had been christened Lynette. She changed her name when her father left her family. During one summer she finds herself playing a game "Playing Beatie Bow" with some younger children and when she goes chasing after the Beatie Bow she finds herself in part of her city she doesn't recognise, that's because it's not her time, it's the 19th century and she's adrift in time. A family take her in and she learns more about life and love at this time than she ever had before. The family believe she had a role to play and she did, but until she does what she has to do she can't go back, so she has to learn to cope, she's not even sure she can go back, she might be stuck in this world, that's more alien to show more her than many foreign countries.

I really enjoyed reading this one, the author paints a bleat but occasionally shining picture of live in the 19th century without overegging the pudding. show less