Cold war in a hot kitchen by Margaret Ann Spence

In the introduction to her book, Spence describes the three women who impacted her life: Ruth, her gentle long-suffering mother; her aunt Nan, a glamorous journalist; and Eva, her paternal grandmother, a model of old world decorum despite the adventurous turn her life took in Australia. Each of them offers a different image of female identity, different life choices vividly demonstrated to the young Margaret Ann. For her the most traumatic memory of her childhood is the displacement of her young cousin Kristy, lost between the cruel choices that adults are forced to make when there is no child care or any kind of support for women’s aspirations.

In researching the lives of these singular women and their families, Spence provides fascinating insight into many aspects of Australia’s history, not only the Cold War years of mid-century Melbourne. The men were involved in mining, and fertilizer production, both industries she acknowledges to have had a profound impact on the Indigenous population, but this is not the focus of her book. Her anecdotes enliven the intimate details of a past era, and bring to life the world of migrants and refugees carving their way in a new land.

Spence’s exploration of her family’s story highlights issues of ‘class, exploitation, gender roles and ambition’, all relevant to the modern reader. For older readers her memoir is sure to also invoke shared nostalgic reminiscence about past times.

Themes: Memoir, Women, Childhood, Australian history, Migrants.

Helen Eddy