Maurice Saxby has said that "what Ethel Turner did for the city family, Mary Grant Bruce did for the bush family."  Her Billabong series had an enormous impact on how early- and mid-20th century Australians perceived their relationship with the bush.
A journalist in her early career, she brought that skill of immediate response and easy flow of information and ideas to her stories about the Linton family, their property in northern Victoria and its inhabitants.  If her representation of cultural and gender roles may seem a little anachronistic these days, they are never unsympathetic or derogatory - just a product of their times.

• This page from The National Foundation for Australian Women includes a biography and lists her published works, including the full Billabong series, as does the OzLit page 
• Austlit has a biography and photo, and you can search further in the database for reviews and analysis
• A Celebration of Women Writers has two Billabong stories online in full text

For a broader list of authors, have a browse through the comprehensive Australian Authors and Illustrators pages from the Western Australian Education Department and from the NSW branch of the Australian School Library Association

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an3084934-v

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