the kelly books

in mrs skillions absence, ...... ellen quinn/kelly,............................. & for a smile from julia, ............

......- the Kelly gang who wrote themselves into Australian history and folklore with the enduring image of the armour they fashioned for themselves. Made from stolen plough moulds the four gang members wore their armour only once in a shoot out at Glenrowan with the Victorian Police. In the “jerilderi letter” Edward Kelly, who was awarded for bravery in his youth, documents the abuse his family was put under by corrupt police. Significant in his defense is the treatment of his mother, sisters and other families involved. The Kelly Books juxtapoise the armour of Dan Joe and Steve, the landscape of the bush where their story was played out and extracts from the jerilderie letter written by (n)Ed Kelly to a local paper. The books also expose other subtler narratives in the (n)Ed Kelly Story but no less significant than the bushranger, narratives such as mother & son, police and families, landscape and violence