Elyne Mitchell (1913-2002) was a writer whose books were all based firmly in the Australian landscapes she loved.  She started writing during the Second World War, when there was an upsurge in literature based in Australia as the threat of invasion by the Japanese threw Australians back on realising the beauty and strength of their land.  Elyne Mitchell, in an interview with Jeff Prentice, said:  “we thought we might lose Australia...”

Elyne Mitchell herself lived in the Snowy Mountains area of the Australian Alps, which is where her most popular series, The Silver Brumby, is set.  She started writing the Silver Brumby books to give her daugher, Indi, something to read:  books were hard to get, and Elyne wanted her daughter to read books with a strong Australian content.

The early Silver Brumby books blend their descriptions of the wild Australian mounties effortlessly with the adventures of the Brumbies.  Talking horses can often be an awkward literary device, but Elyne Mitchell’s behave like horses, and their lives are portrayed vividly and realistically:  Bel Bel’s bones bleach on the Ramshead.

Silver Brumby Whirlwind was described on its publication as the last of the series, as Thowra dies, but the lfollowing books are connected, with Thowra’s sons appearing. The later books I found over-written and almost alien: instead of being effortless the writing seems uncomfortable and the horses peculiar.   Not I know an opinion that many of my mailing list share, but I think her first four books, and Moon Filly, are her best.

Links
There is a lot of information on Elyne Mitchell on the net.
There is an excellent Elyne Mitchell site here, with details of covers and plots.  
There is a Wikipedia entry here.
An interview with Elyne Mitchell by Jeff Prentice here.  
This article has a photograph of Elyne Mitchell.  

Brumby Books
The Silver Brumby (Hutchinson, 1958, illustrated by Ralph Thompson)
Silver Brumby’s Daughter (Hutchinson, 1960, illustrated by Grace Huxtable)
Silver Brumbies of the South (Hutchinson, 1965, illustrated by Annette Macarthur-Onslow)
Silver Brumby Kingdom (Hutchinson, 1966 illustrated by Annette Macarthur-Onslow)
Silver Brumby Whirlwind (Hutchinson, 1973, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)
Son of the Whirlwind (Hutchinson, 1976, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)
Moon Filly (Hutchinson, 1968 illustrated by Robert Hales)
Silver Brumby, Silver Dingo (1993)

Dancing Brumby (Angus & Robertson 1995)

Brumbies of the Night (Angus & Robertson, 1996)

Dancing Brumby's Rainbow (Angus & Robertson, 1998)

The Thousandth Brumby (Angus & Robertson, 1999)

Non Brumby

The Colt at Taparoo (Hutchinson, 1976, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)

The Colt from Snowy River (Hutchinson, 1980, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)

Snowy River Brumby (1981, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)

Brumby Racer (Hutchinson, 1981, illustrated by Victor Ambrus)