Between the Wars Part 1

By sheer chance Mary spots a pickpocket at the Queen Victoria Market and gives chase. The pickpocket is arrested. The owner of the stolen wallet is so grateful that he offers Mary's mother a job as a live-in maid. The Evans family take up residence in the Hansens' house in Hawthorn, a well to-do suburb of Melbourne. Mary finds it palatial in comparison to sleeping in the back alleys of North Melbourne. The Hansens insist that she begin school at a nearby private girls' school. Mary excels at school and her world becomes much more expansive. New people enter that world. The Great Depression hits just as Mary wins a scholarship. The Hansens are very community minded and determined to help those struggling. This along with the exposure to many places, ideas and people help Mary to weld together a framework of philosophy and ethics beyond her years.