Critique du Library Journal

A quality production-script, acting, direction, cinematography, etc.-this is a dramatization of Australian Jill Ker Conway's best-selling 1989 memoir (continued by True North, 1994), taking its protagonist from a sheep station in New South Wales (Coorain, "the windy place") to academic prominence as the first woman president of Smith College in Massachusetts. Jill Ker grew up in an isolated, hostile part of the country. The relationship between the child Jill from age five to 11 (portrayed by Alexandra Galwey and Alex Tomasetti) and her indomitable mother (the excellent Juliet Stevenson) is at the crux of this coming-of-age story. Eve, an ex-nurse, is a passionate, smart, energetic, opinionated woman. She teaches Jill to read but doesn't send her to school. A devastating tragedy, the death of Jill's young father (Richard Roxburgh), and a natural disaster, a five-year drought, send the family to Sydney, where Eve works two jobs to secure the loan that makes the farm a going concern again and the family wealthy. Jill is played as an adult by Katherine Slattery. She and Stevenson play extremely well together as a strong mother and equally strong daughter who confront each other's expectations and give each other no quarter. When Jill realizes Australia offers few opportunities for women, she applies to Harvard's history Ph.D. program, leaving Eve behind. An outspoken feminist advocate, Jill Ker Conway received tremendous academic success as head of Smith College for eight years and now holds a professorship at MIT. This is a mature look at how one's family and physical surroundings shape a human being; it is suitable for all audiences except children. (There is some nudity/sex scenes.) Highly recommended.-Jo Manning, Barry Univ. Lib., Miami Shores, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.