A Sunburnt Childhood: Growing Up in the Northern Territory by Toni Tapp Coutts

Book Description

Secondhand. Ex library copy with protective plastic covering and no external stickers. No external stamps. Mark on tail author bios. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Body text and binding are still very good.

Toni Tapp grew up on the massive Killarney Station, where her stepfather, Bill Tapp, was a cattle king. But there was no 'big house' here - Toni did not grow up in a large homestead. She lived in a shack that had no electricity and no running water.

The oppressive climate of the Territory, whether wet or dry, tested everyone. Fish were known to rain from the sky, and sometimes good men drank too much and drowned trying to cross swollen rivers.

Toni grew up with the Aboriginal people who lived and worked on the station, and got into scrapes with her ever-increasing number of siblings. She loved where she grew up - she was happy on the land with her friends and family, observing the many characters who made up the community in Killarney.

When she was sent to boarding school, all she wanted to do was go back to the land she loved, even though her parents' marriage was struggling as Bill Tapp succumbed to drinking and June Tapp refused to go under with him.

Toni's love of the natural world and of people alike has resulted in a tender portrait of a life that many people would consider tough. She vividly brings to the page a story seldom seen: a Territory childhood, with all its colour, characters, and contradictions. (back cover)