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Elizabeth Harrower Elizabeth Harrower i(A30969 works by)
Born: Established: 8 Feb 1928 Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 7 Jul 2020
Gender: Female
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Details of Works Taught

Text Unit Name Institution Year
y separately published work icon The Catherine Wheel Elizabeth Harrower , London : Cassell , 1960 Z453806 1960 single work novel (taught in 1 units)

'The wind from Siberia as announced by the BBC came down Bayswater Road from the direction of Marble Arch…Searing skin, and petrifying metal and wood, it took possession of London and this early day of the new year. Gently, somehow sympathetically, with a secret sort of throb, my ears ached against it, but rather more drearily and with a sense of injustice my eyes watered as I narrowed them at the steely dark sky and swirling smoke. The centre of the universe! The brilliance of the winter season!

'Twenty-five-year-old Clemency James has moved from Sydney to a chilly bedsit on the other side of the world. During the day she studies for the bar by correspondence; in the evenings she gives French lessons to earn a meagre wage. When she meets Christian, a charismatic would-be actor, she can see he’s trouble—not least because he’s involved with an older woman who has children. She is drawn to him nonetheless: drawn into his world of unpayable debts and wild promises.

'First published in 1960, The Catherine Wheel is Elizabeth Harrower’s third novel and the only one of her books not set in Australia. In it she turns her unflinching gaze on the grim realities of 1950s London, and the madness that can infect couples.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Text ed.).

 		Major Authors: Depth Study University of Sydney 2016 (Semester 2)
Text Unit Name Institution Year
y separately published work icon Down in the City Elizabeth Harrower , London : Cassell , 1957 Z454013 1957 single work novel (taught in 1 units) An upperclass woman from the southern harbour suburbs of Sydney meets and quickly marries a "self made man who depended for his livelihood on sharp wits" from King's Cross. - from dust jacket flap (Cassell, 1957) Major Authors: Depth Study University of Sydney 2016 (Semester 2)
Text Unit Name Institution Year
y separately published work icon The Long Prospect Elizabeth Harrower , London : Cassell , 1958 Z453910 1958 single work novel (taught in 2 units)

'Sharply observed, bitter and humorous, The Long Prospect is a story of life in an Australian industrial town.

'Growing up neglected in a seedy boarding house, twelve-year-old Emily Lawrence befriends Max, a middle-aged scientist who encourages her to pursue her intellectual interests. Innocent Emily will face scandal, suburban snobbery and psychological torment.' (Publication summary : Text Classics)

 		Australian Narrative: The Modernist Impulse Edith Cowan University 2009
y separately published work icon The Long Prospect Elizabeth Harrower , London : Cassell , 1958 Z453910 1958 single work novel (taught in 2 units)

'Sharply observed, bitter and humorous, The Long Prospect is a story of life in an Australian industrial town.

'Growing up neglected in a seedy boarding house, twelve-year-old Emily Lawrence befriends Max, a middle-aged scientist who encourages her to pursue her intellectual interests. Innocent Emily will face scandal, suburban snobbery and psychological torment.' (Publication summary : Text Classics)

 		Major Authors: Depth Study University of Sydney 2016 (Semester 2)
Text Unit Name Institution Year
y separately published work icon The Watch Tower Elizabeth Harrower , London New York (City) Melbourne : Macmillan St. Martin's Press , 1966 Z453697 1966 single work novel (taught in 2 units)

'Breaking their poses like trees snapping branches, the women urgently regarded each other, cleared away all signs of work in an instant, examined their souls for defects, in a sense crossed themselves, and waited.

'After Laura and Clare are abandoned by their mother, Felix is there to help, even to marry Laura if she will have him. Little by little the two sisters grow complicit with his obsessions, his cruelty, his need to control.

'Set in the leafy northern suburbs of Sydney during the 1940s, The Watch Tower is a novel of relentless and acute psychological power.' (Publication summary)

 		Revolutionary Writing? 1960s & Beyond University of Sydney 2015 (Semester 1)
y separately published work icon The Watch Tower Elizabeth Harrower , London New York (City) Melbourne : Macmillan St. Martin's Press , 1966 Z453697 1966 single work novel (taught in 2 units)

'Breaking their poses like trees snapping branches, the women urgently regarded each other, cleared away all signs of work in an instant, examined their souls for defects, in a sense crossed themselves, and waited.

'After Laura and Clare are abandoned by their mother, Felix is there to help, even to marry Laura if she will have him. Little by little the two sisters grow complicit with his obsessions, his cruelty, his need to control.

'Set in the leafy northern suburbs of Sydney during the 1940s, The Watch Tower is a novel of relentless and acute psychological power.' (Publication summary)

 		Major Authors: Depth Study University of Sydney 2016 (Semester 2)
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