The only alternative to ageing is death, and author Elsie Johnstone is old. She has a wisdom and a cynicism earned from experience. But does anybody want to benefit from her thoughts and advice? Not likely.
In this anthology of poems, she is going to tell you anyway!
Born in the 1940s, after World War 2, Elsie Johnstone is one of the Baby Boomers. The world had been through two wars and a long depression and, at last, the sun shone and there was hope. Life was simpler then in many ways, but human beings essentially don't change. Australians mourned their dead, optimistically returned to life, and got on with living and loving.
Elsie is part of the generation that benefitted from the post-war prosperity where the old paradigms were dismantled and a new liberated society evolved. Women came out from the home, working class children got educated, Australia became wealthy and the world became smaller.
In a delightful selection of poems, Elsie outlines how it all happened - the good and the bad.
Elsie says that Old girl - the third part of a trilogy that began with Lakes Entrance girl and then Catholic girl - is a book of "unsophisticated verse for the common folk."
"Academics might disapprove, and that's okay," Elsie says. "But I am not aiming for academic excellence. I simply write poetry because I like to; it challenges me and I was always a sucker for a good story.
"In the wide world of words this would be the equivalent of country music. The purists disdain it but we ordinaries like a story we can relate to, one that echoes common experiences and is written with rhythm and rhyme, making it easy on the ear when read out loud.
"So call me a bush poet, a broker of unsophisticated verse for the common folk."
If you like a relatable tale, written in an entertaining and musical way, then this is a book for short spaces or spare moments. Enjoy.
