The Girl in the Painting by Dee White, illustrated by Sarah Anthony

Title: The Girl in the Painting

Author: Dee White, illustrated by Susan Anthony

Genre: History, Art, Narrative Non-fiction

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 4^th June 2025

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: The surprising truth behind one of Australia’s most iconic paintings, Tom Roberts’ Shearing of the Rams.

Susie lives on a sheep station and does all she can to help out alongside her sister and her rowdy brothers – collecting firewood, feeding the chickens and helping make the bread. But nobody – not the stockman nor the shearers nor the swaggies – ever notices Susie.

Until one day, a painter arrives at the sheep station – the famous Tom Roberts – and that all changes.

Based on the true story of Susie Bourne, and the painting of Tom Robert’s iconic masterpiece, Shearing the Rams (1890).

~*~

Dee White’s latest picture book is a delightful exploration into a famous painting, The Shearing of the Rams by Tom Roberts, the sheep station where he painted it and the girl in the painting, Susie Bourne. It’s a narrative non-fiction that explores the creation of the painting and Susie’s involvement in it, kicking up the dust with her sister to create the vision he needed. But Susie is the girl nobody notices. The girl who blends in everywhere. But Tom does.

The book is about how he included her in his famous painting of the Brocklesby Sheep Station in Corowa NSW. Susie was the only one included in the painting as the ‘tar boy’ in the very centre. She’s now part of history and art history, bringing a little-known aspect of the history of this famous painting to life. The big moments of history are what everyone knows – the shearer’s strike that happened not long after this and inspired Waltzing Matilda. Wars, federation, suffrage – but it’s the little stories, the small moments and quiet people who have in some way helped make these big events or things matter. The people who bring history to life, and make it matter to everyone. That’s what Dee White’s lyrical story does, as do Sarah Anthony’s lovely illustrations that capture the colours, textures and look of the time, emulating the paintings that would have been created during the nineteenth century.  

It also celebrates Australian art and its place in our culture through the exploration of various artists and artworks, we can start to see how art has always been part of Australia. It will always have a place because it is what helps us tell our stories. Knowing the story behind paintings is interesting and now Susie’s story will be known by anyone who reads this book. The painting can be seen in a different light, knowing that a girl overlooked by everyone was the central figure in this painting. And her face is the only one that is wholly visible. For those wanting to know more, there is a note at the back that explains the context of the painting, Susie’s presence and where it fitted into Australian history around the time of the shearer’s strike.

Any picture book exploring history is always going to take a sliver or aspect of history and expand on it. Expand on what we know, and give life to the facts. No story can explore every aspect of history, which is why there are so many great narrative non-fiction and historical fiction books out there. It can also introduce readers to things, like this painting, that they might not have known about before reading this book. This is the power of literature, to teach us something new and exciting. And any book that also celebrates art is amazing and makes it accessible to everyone. Which is always a good thing.