A smattering of Australian Women Authors

 

The Labyrinth - Amanda Lohrey

256 pages, paperback, published 1 January 2020

Erica was brought up in an asylum, not as a patient, her father was a doctor. She has returned after many years as she wants to walk the labyrinth but things have changed as the asylum is now closed. She is able to visit anonymously, not being questioned by true crime junkies about her father who was killed in a gruesome manner by a patient. As Erica explores she notes the changes that the church has become a cafe and discovers the labyrinth has been uprooted. Having tried to revisit the past Erica now confronts her future. She is looking to move to a coastal town in NSW, so that she been close to her son who is in prison.

Lohrey has crafted a story that is quite simply sublime. It is heavily layered, with wonderfully realised characters and fabulous descriptions. Erica is a woman of complexity, as you walk alongside her, you slowly begin to realise the traumas she has experienced. You appreciate Erica's ability to keep moving forwards and develop friendships. It is no surprise when she decides the build a labyrinth in her own backyard.

I don't want to give anything away, as the joy in the reading is the reveal of motivations and actions.

Vanishing Points - Thea Astley

234 pages, hardback, published 16 September 1992

Two novellas, The Genteel Poverty Bus Company and Inventing the Weather initially seem stand alone but quickly you realise the connections between the two.

In the Genteel Poverty Bus Company, Macintosh (Mac) Hope is seeking solace. We start with Mac attending a reunion of the last ever tour of his bus company. It becomes clear Mac has no interest in being with these people or any people and he quickly makes his escape. From here the timeline alternates from that last bus tour, Mac's failed marriage and his determination to lead a solitary life. Mac is able to secure an island off the Queensland coast and has found paradise until property developer Clifford Truscott establishes a resort on a nearby island. A battle between the two men then ensues. Mac takes to blasting classical music while Truscott uses violence.

Inventing the Weather, has Julie a housewife and mother trying to discover her identity after her marriage to Clifford Truscott ends. When Clifford announces he wants a divorce to be with his mistress, Julie does the unthinkable, she leaves him and her children. It is not an easy decision for Julie to make but she knows if she does not, Clifford will have no burdens, no cares and no obligations. As far as Clifford is concerned men can leave their families but women can not as it is unnatural. Julie's journey is claiming her identity back, she resumes her journalist career and crosses paths with some Nun's providing services to an indigenous community in a remote location. Clifford discovers the remote location and he can see the potential for development much to Julie's disgust.

There are themes, places and characters that run through both stories but there is also significant differences. Julie's story has her railing against the contradictions of how men and women are expected to behave during and after a divorce. Mac fights against progress, wanting to hold onto the simple pleasures of life, playing classical music, reading books and enjoying the environment.

Astley, I have always found to capture the very essence of small town Australian life. The descriptions are vivid and you can walk the streets in your mind. The island and the mission, you feel that you know every inch. The characters are deftly created, are complex and flawed. Astley truly is a master of the craft.

Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko

320 pages, paperback, published October 2023

Edenglassie is written in two lines, the 1850s and the present day, with both Indigenous storylines coming together towards the end.

In the 1850's you follow the lives of Mulanyin and his partner Nita, it is through their eyes that the brutality of the colonial past comes to life. In the present-day activist Granny Eddie, a centenarian elder has been taken to hospital after a fall. Her niece, Winona comes to assist, and she is passionate and proudly outspoken. Dr Johnny upon meeting Winona knows there are sparks, but just never is sure which direction they are going to take.

Lucashenko is masterful at weaving the two stories and keeping the reader engaged. There is a lot to mull over around the ongoing treatment of Indigenous people.

Mermaid Singing - Charmian Clift

212 pages, published 1 January 1958

In Mermaid Singing you are taken on a wondrous journey as you explore and appreciate the Island of Kalymnos through the eyes of Charmian Clift. Set in the 1950's Clift, her husband George Johnston and their children settle on the island so they can complete a novel.

What I adored about Clift's writing was the way she took to all the quirks, attributes, challenges, and joys of island life. There was always an opportunity to be patronising to look down on the locals but Clift embraces everything about island life. Initially there is reluctance, as she realises there is no indoor plumbing and other amenities are primitive but Clift is not deterred. There is no judgement from Clift, she observes and she paints vivid pictures of people and place. The island celebrations, the drinking, the sponge fishers are given depth and are not caricatures.

Clift has created a perfect time capsule with words, where Kalymnos is perfectly captured in the 1950s.

Sea-Green - Barbara Hanrahan

208 pages, paperback, published 1 January 1974

Just glorious will put up a longer review later, need to think this one over, so cleverly layered. 

Virginia leaves in Adelaide, South Australia is study arts. Unsatisfied with her life, she travels with a friend by passenger ship to England to pursue her artistic career. As she makes her way, you learn about her struggles to make art, to form relationships and to understand her own identity.  

What you are taken on is a poetic journey of words and images that just consumes you. For a novel of about 200 pages, I was tagging quotes everywhere as the writing is lush but sparse. By that I mean every word is placed to perfection and it is rich. The descriptions of people and places is evocative and sharp. The only struggle is coming to terms with the change of perspective, sometimes it third person other times first person. Once you fall into the rhythm, you are hooked.  

This was my first foray into the writing of Hanrahan’s and certainly will not be the last.