BOOK REVIEW
MARY BARBER This memoir is clearly written and portrays life in Darwin for two German immigrants in the late 1950s and 1960s. It moves along well, covering the everyday life of Mocco and her husband Niclas, an architect-builder. I felt for Mocco when the children were born. She was at times an isolated housewife and mother in a foreign land. This is a story of enterprising immigrants who made Australia their home. I think it would appeal to folks who have lived in Darwin in the ’60s or ’70s and those who enjoy reading immigration stories set during this period.
BILL MCCARTHY Young, bourgeois, German, female, dropped into Darwin with boyfriend, 1958. These are the ingredients for some interesting and hilarious tales as Mocco and her soon-to-be husband Niclas settle into life in Darwin. The story she tells is a succession of events and incidents, mostly humorous, as they come to terms with life in the top end and eventually prosper. This book will resonate mostly with females who have experienced a similar life. For those who have never lived far from home, the life of Mocco and Niclas is a great example of the sort of migrants who have helped make this country such a good place to live. The second half becomes a little less interesting. As Darwin becomes civilised, the tales recounted are no more remarkable than those experienced by anyone who has the pleasure of living in remote rural Australia. The writing style is little awkward, but overall, for an autobiography this is very readable.
JENNY QUILL I absolutely loved this book, possibly because I lived in the Northern Territory during the 1960s. It all resonated, as I could picture the places and events of that period. I know I wanted to turn around and come home when I first got there so can imagine how hard it must have been for Mocco coming from Germany. The book is very amusing and the author’s great sense of humour shines through the pages. I passed the book to my neighbour, also a Territorian at that time, and she enjoyed it as much as I did. This is a good easy read that gave me a lot of laughs.
TONY HARRINGTON
BOOK review Adventurous, loveable and full of laughs, Mocco captures the heat and vibrancy of Darwin and its larrikins in a decade when the Territory was a wild outpost (do they have a separate currency BEAUTIFUL B there?) that made its own rules. This is a frank and hilarious account of a young German girl who follows her lover from the city of Cologne to Australia, and finds herself in Darwin with little English but a huge sense of adventure as they determine Mocco WOLLERT to make it in their new home. The title comes from the first BLOODY BASTARD essential three words they learnt on their way to understanding BEAUTIFUL the Australian language. By Mocco Wollert
BLOODY B BASTARD B
1950’S 1 95 DARWIN, NO ENGLISH, NO MONEY, NO PROBLEM
JOHN KLEINSCHMIDT On picking up this book I was a bit apprehensive about it being yet another memoir from an immigrant, as I seldom enjoy reading this genre, although I have not previously read a German settler’s perspective of Australia. That it was set in Darwin provided some interest from the outset as there is no doubt Territorians are different. I was impressed by the tenacity of Mocco and Niclas to make a new life for themselves in a country that is different to Germany in every way. More impressive yet was their determination to be successful through hard work and ready acceptance of all things that their new country threw at them. A good news story that is easy to read.
Mocco Wollert writes about her life as a young immigrant woman in Darwin 1958-1972. Leaving the sophisticated life of music, culture, theatre, cafes and nightclubs in Cologne, Germany she follows the love of her life to the most remote, hot and humid backwater in Australia. The contrast is extreme. Being socially capable and gregarious by nature she rapidly blends into the harddrinking, hard-smoking and hard-partying Darwin lifestyle. Together with her extremely hard-working entrepreneurial and enterprising husband, they build a wide network of local and multinational friends and a great life for themselves. The birth of her two girls, motherhood, child rearing and many other entertaining vignettes give us insight into a slice of Darwinian life in the 1960s. This a wellwritten unpretentious account of true love, sense of place, friendship, hardship and the joy of living. Well done Mocco. 7/10
JO BOURKE What a hoot of a book! If you want a total switch-off with lots of humour thrown in, this is the book to read. The first illustration of Niclas and Mocco in 1958 depicts the innocence and youth before they encounter Darwin in the 1950s – the total opposite of anything they have ever experienced in their birth country of Germany. Their first Christmas in Darwin had candles melting from the heat and a straggly branch from a ti-tree as their tree! Where was the snow and church bells and traditions? No matter, their adjustment to life in the Top End had started! Mocco is a born story teller and doesn’t hold back on their struggles to survive. Most of all the reader is drawn into their resilience and courage as she and Niclas map their lives and make life-long friends, helped along with plenty of humour and a work ethic that would leave most of us shaking our heads. Bloody Bastard Beautiful was first published in 2017, when Mocco was in her 80s. It has universal appeal and I am happy to recommend it. One to keep on my bookshelf and share with friends.
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