Susanna de Vries | Official Website

Books & Reviews

Susanna de Vries is the author (or co-author) of 17 books, most of which have been published in several edition. 13 of these books are still in print and most are available from leading bookshops:

	FEMALES ON THE FATAL SHORE Fettered and Free More information \| Where to Buy This is the story of the lives of 14 significant women who sailed to the Australian colonies in its founding years. The first to arrive was Esther Abrahams, a 16-year-old Jewish girl transported for shoplifting two cards of lace. Esther and other female convicts landed on ‘the fatal shore’ in a storm and she and many other female convicts were set upon by sex-starved men who had been awaiting their arrival for two weeks.
	DESERT QUEEN The Many Lives and Loves of Daisy Bates More information \| Where to Buy Before World War Two the story of ‘saintly’ Daisy Bates, CBE, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat from Tipperary was part of the curriculum in every Australian school. Children learned that Mrs Bates, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat pioneered the study of Aboriginal customs and legends and fed, clothed and nursed elderly Aborigines out of her own money. Daisy Bates was Australia’s ‘Florence Nightingale’ awarded a CBE by Buckingham Palace. At long last the real story of Daisy Bates, her traumatic childhood at Roscrea and her three marriages (two bigamous) has been told. This biography presents Daisy as a fascinating, complex and nuanced woman.
	CONRAD MARTENS On the Beagle and in Australia More information \| Where to Buy Conrad Martens became Australia's first professional artist, and an Antipodean version of Turner, the painter who inspired him. Although Martens has become one of the best-loved Australian artists, somewhat surprisingly his life and his major works have never been fully documented.
	ETHEL CARRICK FOX Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist More information \| Where to Buy In 1996 Ethel Carrick Fox became Australia's highest-priced woman artist when her painting of a French flower market sold at auction for $105,500. She had been ignored for decades - some of her unsigned works had been attributed to her more famous husband, Emanuel Phillips Fox, by unscrupulous art dealers who also accused her of forging her husband's name on her works in order to sell them at a higher price.
	GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN From Federation to Freedom More information \| Where to Buy Great Australian Women presents twenty courageous women who broke down the barriers of prejudice to enter the professions - law, medicine, politics and architecture - or made their names as musicians, writers and sportswomen. From Federation to the present century, from Frances 'Fanny' Durack, the first female swimmer to win Olympic gold in 1912, Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, to Roma Mitchell, appointed as Australia's first female judge of the Supreme Court in 1965 and as our first female State Governor in 1991, here are twenty outstanding Australians who succeeded against all the odds. Their stories will make you laugh, weep and wonder at their bravery and determination.
	GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN Vol 2 From pioneering days to the present More information \| Where to Buy The achievements of Australian women have long been overshadowed by the deeds of Australian men. Susanna de Vries remedied this with her outstanding book Great Australian Women. Now, in this second volume, more Australian women are celebrated for their hard work, intelligence, talent, dedication and compassion.
	The complete book of GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia More information \| Where to Buy The achievements of Australian women have long been overshadowed by the deeds of Australian men. Susanna de Vries has remedied this with her outstanding research, and in this book she details the life stories of thirty-six courageous Australian women who broke down the barriers of prejudice.
	HEROIC AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN WAR Astonishing tales of bravery from Gallipoli to Kokoda More information \| Where to Buy Nancy Wake remarked: 'The exploits of Australia's women at war have been sadly neglected for years.’ Yet women have suffered, strengthened and defied fear in extraordinary acts of bravery.
	GREAT PIONEER WOMEN OF THE OUTBACK Facing hardship, danger and deprivation More information \| Where to Buy From the 1800s to the onset of World War I, pioneers making their homes in outback Australia where joined by their wives, many of whom had no idea of the difficulties and dangers ahead.
	HISTORIC BRISBANE Convict Settlement to River City More information \| Where to Buy Susanna de Vries, award-winning author, and Jake de Vries, former City Architect of Brisbane, have pooled their talents to compile a joint book on the building of Brisbane, which transports us back to the first years of Brisbane's bleak existence.
	BLUE RIBBONS, BITTER BREAD The life of Joice NanKivell Loch — Australia’s most heroic woman More information \| Where to Buy JOICE LOCH was an extraordinary Australian. She had the inspired courage that saved many hundreds of Jews and Poles in World War II, the compassion that made her a self-trained doctor to tens of thousands of refugees, the incredible grit that took her close to death in several theatres of war, and the dedication to truth and justice that shone forth in her own books and a lifetime of astonishing heroism.
	THE IMPRESSIONISTS REVEALED Masterpieces from Private Collections More information \| Where to Buy Many of the great works of Impressionism are housed in private collections and are rarely or never seen by the public. Thanks to the generous cooperation of their owners, this book presents in colour 92 of these masterpieces, many of which have never before been reproduced in an art book although some have been in sale catalogues and consequently have had only limited exposure.
	TO HELL AND BACK GALLIPOLI — An eye-witness account The remarkable life of Sydney Loch More information \| Where to Buy Sydney Loch migrated to Victoria from Scotland and became a sheep farmer in Gippsland before enlisting with the 2nd Battalion and training with the Anzacs in Egypt.

	FEMALES ON THE FATAL SHORE Fettered and Free More information \| Where to Buy This is the story of the lives of 14 significant women who sailed to the Australian colonies in its founding years. The first to arrive was Esther Abrahams, a 16-year-old Jewish girl transported for shoplifting two cards of lace. Esther and other female convicts landed on ‘the fatal shore’ in a storm and she and many other female convicts were set upon by sex-starved men who had been awaiting their arrival for two weeks.
	DESERT QUEEN The Many Lives and Loves of Daisy Bates More information \| Where to Buy Before World War Two the story of ‘saintly’ Daisy Bates, CBE, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat from Tipperary was part of the curriculum in every Australian school. Children learned that Mrs Bates, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat pioneered the study of Aboriginal customs and legends and fed, clothed and nursed elderly Aborigines out of her own money. Daisy Bates was Australia’s ‘Florence Nightingale’ awarded a CBE by Buckingham Palace. At long last the real story of Daisy Bates, her traumatic childhood at Roscrea and her three marriages (two bigamous) has been told. This biography presents Daisy as a fascinating, complex and nuanced woman.
	CONRAD MARTENS On the Beagle and in Australia More information \| Where to Buy Conrad Martens became Australia's first professional artist, and an Antipodean version of Turner, the painter who inspired him. Although Martens has become one of the best-loved Australian artists, somewhat surprisingly his life and his major works have never been fully documented.
	ETHEL CARRICK FOX Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist More information \| Where to Buy In 1996 Ethel Carrick Fox became Australia's highest-priced woman artist when her painting of a French flower market sold at auction for $105,500. She had been ignored for decades - some of her unsigned works had been attributed to her more famous husband, Emanuel Phillips Fox, by unscrupulous art dealers who also accused her of forging her husband's name on her works in order to sell them at a higher price.
	GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN From Federation to Freedom More information \| Where to Buy Great Australian Women presents twenty courageous women who broke down the barriers of prejudice to enter the professions - law, medicine, politics and architecture - or made their names as musicians, writers and sportswomen. From Federation to the present century, from Frances 'Fanny' Durack, the first female swimmer to win Olympic gold in 1912, Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, to Roma Mitchell, appointed as Australia's first female judge of the Supreme Court in 1965 and as our first female State Governor in 1991, here are twenty outstanding Australians who succeeded against all the odds. Their stories will make you laugh, weep and wonder at their bravery and determination.
	GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN Vol 2 From pioneering days to the present More information \| Where to Buy The achievements of Australian women have long been overshadowed by the deeds of Australian men. Susanna de Vries remedied this with her outstanding book Great Australian Women. Now, in this second volume, more Australian women are celebrated for their hard work, intelligence, talent, dedication and compassion.
	The complete book of GREAT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia More information \| Where to Buy The achievements of Australian women have long been overshadowed by the deeds of Australian men. Susanna de Vries has remedied this with her outstanding research, and in this book she details the life stories of thirty-six courageous Australian women who broke down the barriers of prejudice.
	HEROIC AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN WAR Astonishing tales of bravery from Gallipoli to Kokoda More information \| Where to Buy Nancy Wake remarked: 'The exploits of Australia's women at war have been sadly neglected for years.’ Yet women have suffered, strengthened and defied fear in extraordinary acts of bravery.
	GREAT PIONEER WOMEN OF THE OUTBACK Facing hardship, danger and deprivation More information \| Where to Buy From the 1800s to the onset of World War I, pioneers making their homes in outback Australia where joined by their wives, many of whom had no idea of the difficulties and dangers ahead.
	HISTORIC BRISBANE Convict Settlement to River City More information \| Where to Buy Susanna de Vries, award-winning author, and Jake de Vries, former City Architect of Brisbane, have pooled their talents to compile a joint book on the building of Brisbane, which transports us back to the first years of Brisbane's bleak existence.
	BLUE RIBBONS, BITTER BREAD The life of Joice NanKivell Loch — Australia’s most heroic woman More information \| Where to Buy JOICE LOCH was an extraordinary Australian. She had the inspired courage that saved many hundreds of Jews and Poles in World War II, the compassion that made her a self-trained doctor to tens of thousands of refugees, the incredible grit that took her close to death in several theatres of war, and the dedication to truth and justice that shone forth in her own books and a lifetime of astonishing heroism.
	THE IMPRESSIONISTS REVEALED Masterpieces from Private Collections More information \| Where to Buy Many of the great works of Impressionism are housed in private collections and are rarely or never seen by the public. Thanks to the generous cooperation of their owners, this book presents in colour 92 of these masterpieces, many of which have never before been reproduced in an art book although some have been in sale catalogues and consequently have had only limited exposure.
	TO HELL AND BACK GALLIPOLI — An eye-witness account The remarkable life of Sydney Loch More information \| Where to Buy Sydney Loch migrated to Victoria from Scotland and became a sheep farmer in Gippsland before enlisting with the 2nd Battalion and training with the Anzacs in Egypt.