The Art Deco Mansion in St Lucia What drove the nan who built it? Ruth Bonetti

 I often wondered about the iconic art deco mansion in St Lucia, Brisbane, very near the small shopping centre. This imaginative retelling of her grandfather’s story by Ruth Bonetti answered my many questions! After escaping from Russian persecution in Finland, W.A. Black went on to become a wealthy businessman, buying farms and playing the main part in the development of the suburb of St Lucia. The suburb was largely countryside then with mobs of kangaroos and snakes slithering about! 

She includes several interviews and letters which tell how her grandfather got through the era of the Spanish Influenza and his struggles during the Great Depression. He was certainly fantastically energetic with his constant business enterprises! She also brings him to life through her sweet memories of him. He is admirable for more than the famous house, once occupied by Quentin Bryce, the former Governor-General, but the house was a remarkable addition to a little country suburb in a small capital city.

I am interested in reding Ruth Bonetti’s autobiographies now.

I read this for Rose City Reader’s TBR 25 in ‘25 Challenge.