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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon The Girl with the Cardboard Port single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2006... 2006 The Girl with the Cardboard Port
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Judy McNeil is only fourteen when her father dies in a railway accident. Penniless and with nowhere to live, her mother is forced to take Judy and her five siblings to seek a new life in Brisbane, where she quickly remarries and Judy's life takes a dramatic turn for the worse. Fleeing to Sydney after attempting to kill her stepfather, all she has are a few belongings in a cardboard port, or suitcase. Judy falls in love with a Singaporean man named Richard, but her dreams of happiness are soon dashed. He sends her to live with his family in Singapore while he remains behind in Australia. So, still a teenager, Judy finds herself abandoned in a strange country with her young child and another on the way. The twists and turns of Judy's subsequent life make for compelling reading. Loathed by her husband's father, she leaves the family home only to find herself at the mercy of one of Malaya's headhunting Dayak rebels and forced to turn to prostitution to feed herself and her children. Later, reunited with her husband, she battles the 'body rats' that feed on corpses buried in a neighbouring cemetery before returning to seek refuge in the drains. Ultimately she is faced with a devastating choice: to escape her nightmare world she will have to leave her children behind. This is a true story that will leave you wondering how one woman could endure so much and yet still survive.' (Publisher's description)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Wollombi, Quorrobolong - Millfield - Wollombi area, Hunter Valley, Newcastle - Hunter Valley area, New South Wales,: Hourglass , 2006 .
      image of person or book cover 3959226491846130435.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 247p.
      Note/s:
      • An Hourglass Book (t.p. verso)
      ISBN: 090898880X
    • c
      Australia,
      c
      :
      Interactive Publications ,
      2012 .
      image of person or book cover 5451208113245948831.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 256p.
      Edition info: 2nd ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published September 19, 2012
      ISBN: 9781922120090, 192212009X

Works about this Work

Living to Tell the Tale : Survival and Connection Janine Little , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , vol. 18 no. 1 2006;

— Review of The Girl with the Cardboard Port Judith McNeil , 2006 single work autobiography
Living to Tell the Tale : Survival and Connection Janine Little , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , vol. 18 no. 1 2006;

— Review of The Girl with the Cardboard Port Judith McNeil , 2006 single work autobiography
Last amended 21 Jul 2023 07:39:19
Settings:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
  • c
    Singapore,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • Brisbane, Queensland,
  • ca. 1950-1969
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