An attempt to propose a possible future for Australia based on the biblical and prophetic history of Christianity, A Voice from Australia is an analysis and critique of British and Australia society founded on the concept of socialism. In this respect Boyd's utopian desire for the future of Australia, as argued by Sarah Paddle, is one of communal 'self-sufficiency, democratic decision-making and local, even domestic, control over the cultural, social and working lives of their people' (p.157). Boyd also proposes the notion of Australia becoming a pastoral retreat for the 'farmer refugee' from the evils of the British industrial system (p.155). In some respects this logic may well have emerged in response to the work of her brother, John Scott Vandeleur, the founder of the Rathlahine Co-operative in Ireland in the 1830s. Paddle goes on to note, too, that a constant in Boyd's vision is her emotional identification with the wrongs of the poor, and from which she suggests a critique of contemporary industrialisation (p.155).
