Sunshine and Shadows

…and so the journey continues, Sunshine and Shadows, the sequel to My Mother and Myself, is a warm and informative coming-of-age story.  Follow the spirited 14 year-old girl, from Wagin in rural WA, through her formative teenage years at boarding school in the monastic town of New Norcia in the 1950s and on into womanhood and a successful and dedicated career in paediatric nursing and midwifery.  Provides wonderful insights into hospital-based nursing training at PMH and RPH, the nursing profession, and life in general for young Western Australians in the vibrant and eventful 1960s. 

BOOK REVIEW   by Lloyd Nelson

In 2009 I had the pleasure of reviewing this writer’s first book My Mother and Myself.  This book sold very well, particularly in Wagin, and why not?  Judith’s mother, Beatrice, was a Taylor from Kechualing at Wedgecarrup and her father, Ernest Sylvester Luscombe, a long standing dentist in Wagin.  To say the least, they were well-known Waginites.  Apart from being a very good read, Judith’s first book is the most honest and self-revealing book I’ve ever read.

She’s done it again with Sunshine and Shadows.  A very honest book, it traces Judith’s final years at Wagin Convent, her later education as a boarder at St Gertrude’s College in New Norcia, dental nursing for her father and then following her sister Pauline into nursing training.  Her sense of humour is very evident, as is the depth of her intellect.  Her brother Greg was a boarder at New Norcia at the same time.  St Ildephonsus’ College was looked upon as a sort of boot-camp for independent-minded Catholics, and Greg often did a runner to get away from the strict regime of the Marist Brothers, as did many of his contemporaries.  In this book Greg declares that the most stylish escape from any boarding school would be that of Neville Curley, who took a taxi from Perth to his family’s Lime Lake farm.  Rumour has it that Martin told the driver that, as he was making the return trip, he might as well take Neville back too!

Judith had a very successful nursing career and during a spell at Exmouth Hospital met and married an American working there on the USA base.  These days, after living around the world, she lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

This is a fascinating book, liberally sprinkled with Wagin people and Wagin days.  If you didn’t buy the last one, don’t miss out on this one.  Apart from being a good read, it would make a marvellous Christmas present.

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Book Price is $40.00 AUD Inc. Postage - within Australia

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