Synopses & Reviews
This is a fascinating collection of the correspondence between six Australian women writers written between 1930 and 1957 and unpublished until now. Miles Franklin, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Jean Devanny, Marjorie Barnard, Flora Eldershaw and Eleanor Dark discuss their work, their personal lives and their views of the world in these letters, which were written with the purpose of providing sympathetic support and which bacome a source of friendship. Each of the women was centrally engaged with the social and political issues of her time, and these letters appear as a continuing dialogue written over three decades, from the Depression with its struggles and militancy, the nationalism and chauvinism of the Second World War, through to the conservatism of the Cold War. As non-fictional writing, the correspondence perhaps best articulates the complexity of the women's lives and the clashes between their private and the public worlds in a way which more polished literary genres fail to do.
Synopsis
A collection of letters by six Australian women, written between 1930 and 1957.
Synopsis
A collection of letters by six Australian women, written between 1930 and 1957.
Synopsis
This engrossing collection presents the letters between six Australian writers in the years 1930-1957. The women discuss their work as writers, their political views and activities and the turmoils and banalities of their personal lives, in letters that are funny, serious, often beautifully written and at times breathtakingly honest and moving. From the early notes of mutual support to the rich correspondence of long-held friendships, these letters offer a unique and intimate perspective on these extraordinary women. At the same time, the collection forms a narrative and commentary on the literary, social and political events of these turbulent years that witnessed the Depression, the Second World War and the beginnings of the Cold War. Annotated and complemented by Carole Ferrier's background information and careful editing, this collection will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in Australia's cultural history.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements; Notes on editorial philosophy and practice; Introduction; The Letters; Chronology; References; Biographical notes; Bibliography of correspondents' main published works; Location of letters; Index; Note on sources.