A very pleasant surprise as Mayse Young, she of minimal outback education, turns out to be an accomplished author, who recounts her remarkable life with great skill and humour.

Growing up on the move across northern Australia as her illiterate parents followed employment opportunities, Young finds wonder in the sights and sounds of remote life, making her own fun. She experiences her first home with walls aged 12 before her parents buy a hotel in Pine Creek and Mays's life as a publican begins.

Mayse owned a lot of pubs in her time and having visited all of them I'm worried about being an alcoholic. The only regret is that No place for a woman proved to be Young's only book; I would have liked to have spent more time with her. ( )