Book excerpt: What Happened to the Girl from the Mallee is the memoir of an only child who grew up on an isolated farm in the Mallee. Jenny Date gained her independence as a young teenager and set out to explore what challenges and opportunities the big smoke and the wider world had to offer. This memoir offers a glimpse of life in Australia from the 1950s to the present. Detailing events in the author’s life from international adventures to domestic service, from the vibrancy of youth to the complications of aging, and from nostalgia for the past to uncertainty regarding the future, the narrative is one of a life well lived and of concern and hope for the coming generations. She tells surprising, amazing, and amusing stories of more than seventy-five years of travel, career, and everyday life. This memoir is based within the context of the baby boomer generation and the broad social history of Australia.