'It is with great pleasure that we find Eileen Finlay has written yet another saga...this time a fuller and deeper story embracing a long period and ending in 1944...The chapters on Pentridge Gaol are done with great sincerity and depth of feeling, and I find they were taken from real life. Her swearing Blacksmith is a masterpiece, but only in Australia could people of the Chief's class take him into their lives and hearts without losing any of their dignity...The atmosphere is distinctly Australian and never overdrawn...' (Anon, Foreword, frontmatter, National Press imprint)
