The reader gets to know Mary Talence through her diary she receives for her tenth birthday from a supervisor at the Bomaderry Childrens Home. Mary has no idea why she was removed from her parents. It is 1937 and by this time Mary had lived at the home for 5 years and recounts the removal of her siblings and herself from her Mother. She describes helping with the babies and the relationships between children and staff.
Her memories of her early family life are strong and one day she hopes to be reunited. She gets to stay at the home longer than other children as Matron Rose is fond of her. Sadly she watches as other children depart for other institutions or adoptive families. She notices that the fairer children are more likely to go to families.
One day a couple come along and take her into their family.This is a huge shock to her as she was sure Matron Rose would keep her at the Home. The family make great efforts to assimilate her into the new life. They don’t want her mixing with Koori people and are disturbed when she meets Dot a housegirl from a similar background who works locally. The two girls are determined to keep meeting and in this way Dot educates Mary about the history of Koori people and Government policy.
Mary feels reconnected with her family and people through these stories. She learns that Koori people are demonstrating and making petitions to the government for citizens rights. The story ends there but the reder is left with a feeling of hope for Mary and a social justice movement that is gathering momentum. The Diary of Mary Talence is aimed at adolescent readers, it deals sensitively with difficult issues. Through this engaging little book of fiction, readers will get a big dose of Australia’s factual history.
