Mr Micawber Down Under
David Barry

Robert Hale
31 October 2011 / ISBN: 9780709093121
Historical Fiction/1855 / Melbourne, Australia
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Everybody who has read David Copperfield will know that the impecunious Micawber family emigrate to Australia at the end of the book. This author, like myself and I am sure many other readers, wondered what would become of them there. Thus here is a volume detailing their adventures. Naturally they don’t have any money and constantly have to stave off eviction and repossession. The head of the family is out of work and has no idea what to do with money when he has it – other than spend it immediately, of course. But his daughter, Rose, is romantically involved with the landlord’s son, and his son, Wilkins, makes a new and dubious friend while his father has an idea of becoming…a detective?

This is not actually a detective story, although a whole series of novels about Mr Micawber’s crime solving Down Under would be a joy handled well. Instead, this is about the family’s many exploits in a new country, told in a way that Dickens would I am sure have approved of. Mr Barry is adept at describing the new and upcoming city of Melbourne in the early days: a sea of mud and shanty housing, a place of horse racing and opportunities, and of course, heat. The characters come to vibrant and remarkably well-drawn life much as they are shown in the classic novel, which I have read more than once. I could not personally detect a jarring note, so maybe there isn’t one. What there is adds up to a good story that is not quite long enough and that has plenty of potential for a whole series of books. Plenty of humor, a few surprises and some delightful scenes with the eponymous character at their heart make this one a pleasure to read – more please.