Australian children’s classics: Playing Beatie Bow is a time-slip novel that makes Sydney strange
Ruth Park’s classic asks us to inhabit the past as a real place – just as 14-year-old Abigail does, when she’s transported from 1980 to 1873, in Sydney’s The Rocks.
In 1980, Australian author Ruth Park released her children's classic novel, Playing Beatie Bow, which has remained in print and even inspired a 1986 film adaptation. The story follows 14-year-old Abigail Kirk, who feels out of place due to her name and family situation. Park's novel explores the concept of time with Abigail's journey through various eras in Sydney's history.
The novel's opening sentence, "In the first place, Abigail Kirk was not Abigail at all," immediately introduces Abigail's sense of disconnection. As the story progresses, Abigail is transported back in time to 1873, where she encounters the Bows and Talliskers, immigrants from the Orkney Islands. Living in a high-rise designed by her father, Abigail's life becomes increasingly intertwined with Sydney's past.
The novel won several awards, including the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Award in 1981, and was praised for its accurate depiction of Sydney's history and its ability to engage young readers.
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