The Retrospect

"The Retrospect" by Ada Cambridge is a compelling memoir. It reveals her time in both countries; England and Australia, spinning her memories and sentiments of each into a thought-provoking exploration of the concepts of home, exile, homesickness, and return. Excerpt: «There was a gap of thirty-eight years, almost to a day, between my departure from England (1870), a five-weeks-old young bride, and my return thither (1908), an old woman. And for about seven-eighths of that long time in Australia, while succeeding very well in making the best of things, I was never without a subconscious sense of exile, a chronic nostalgia, that could hardly bear the sight of a homeward-bound ship.»