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person or book cover
Scanned for the Australian Pulp Fiction Industry project.
y separately published work icon The Wind on the Water single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1938... 1938 The Wind on the Water
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Widowed Fran marries a publican after World War II and moves herself and four-year-old daughter Mary to the small town of Brown's Town. Although she feels at home in the town on the edge of the Mallee, she struggles with her relationship with both her husband and her mother-in-law.

Exhibitions

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Adelaide, South Australia,: Rigby , 1960 .
      person or book cover
      Scanned for the Australian Pulp Fiction Industry project.
      Extent: 184p.
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Untapped , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 8647683149527269564.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781922749475
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Australian Consolidated Press , 1939 .
      Alternative title: Wind on the Water
      Link: 9131808Full text document Sighted: 10/12/2015
      Extent: 28p.p.
      Edition info: Rev. ed.
      Note/s:
      • Some removal of material, adjustment of chapters, removal of chapter titles.
      Series: y separately published work icon Australian Women's Weekly Novel Australian Women's Weekly Supplement Australian Consolidated Press (publisher), 1934-1963 Z1224574 1934-1963 series - publisher These triple-column quarto supplements to the Australian Women's Weekly published novels by overseas and Australian writers - in the case of the latter, sometimes for the first and only time. The publication was variously described on the cover as 'The Australian Women's Weekly Novel'; 'A Complete Book-Length Novel'; 'A Free Supplement to the Australian Women's Weekly' and 'Supplement - Must Not Be Sold Separately'.

Works about this Work

‘A Talented Daughter of the Mallee’ : Myra Morris Meets Regional Readers Brigid Magner , Emily Potter , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 36 no. 3 2021;

'Myra Morris (1893–1966) was a prolific author of poems, short stories, novels and children’s books. Best known for her short stories, which were published in a wide array of Australian periodicals, Morris’ novels have been less celebrated. This article considers The Wind on the Water (1938) set at the ‘Four Mile’ hotel near ‘Brown’s Town’ in the Mallee region, which was serialised in the Australian Women’s Weekly and as a popular ABC radio broadcast after publication. Due to its generic romance elements, the novel’s quietly radical critique of the cruel subjection of women and animals has been largely overlooked. When discussed with book groups in the Mallee region, the novel offered a springboard for discussion of womens’ intimate relationships, class dynamics in small towns and considerations of inheritance. Although it was over ninety years old at the time of these sessions, readers of different genders and ages tended to identify closely with the novel’s protagonist and her thwarted efforts to find fulfilment and create a better future for her children. We argue that Morris’ novel might be regarded as a crucial antecedent of a number of contemporary novels about sensitive women seeking beauty in small Mallee towns. Her own early experiences in country towns may have contributed to her understanding of the lot of rural women who slaved to maintain their households in precarious conditions. The more complex renderings of the Mallee offered by Morris’ novel, along with the readers’ response to it, show how places are continually being made by the stories told and read about them.' (Publication abstract)

What I’m Reading Brigid Magner , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
Poet in a Landscape : Some Reflections on Shaw Neilson Gary Catalano , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 46 no. 10 2002; (p. 61-65)
y separately published work icon 20 Australian Novelists Colin Roderick , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1947 Z412046 1947 single work anthology criticism extract novel
At a Mallee Pub 1938 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 21 December vol. 59 no. 3071 1938; (p. 8)

— Review of The Wind on the Water Myra Morris , 1938 single work novel
At a Mallee Pub 1938 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 21 December vol. 59 no. 3071 1938; (p. 8)

— Review of The Wind on the Water Myra Morris , 1938 single work novel
y separately published work icon 20 Australian Novelists Colin Roderick , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1947 Z412046 1947 single work anthology criticism extract novel
Poet in a Landscape : Some Reflections on Shaw Neilson Gary Catalano , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 46 no. 10 2002; (p. 61-65)
What I’m Reading Brigid Magner , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
‘A Talented Daughter of the Mallee’ : Myra Morris Meets Regional Readers Brigid Magner , Emily Potter , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 36 no. 3 2021;

'Myra Morris (1893–1966) was a prolific author of poems, short stories, novels and children’s books. Best known for her short stories, which were published in a wide array of Australian periodicals, Morris’ novels have been less celebrated. This article considers The Wind on the Water (1938) set at the ‘Four Mile’ hotel near ‘Brown’s Town’ in the Mallee region, which was serialised in the Australian Women’s Weekly and as a popular ABC radio broadcast after publication. Due to its generic romance elements, the novel’s quietly radical critique of the cruel subjection of women and animals has been largely overlooked. When discussed with book groups in the Mallee region, the novel offered a springboard for discussion of womens’ intimate relationships, class dynamics in small towns and considerations of inheritance. Although it was over ninety years old at the time of these sessions, readers of different genders and ages tended to identify closely with the novel’s protagonist and her thwarted efforts to find fulfilment and create a better future for her children. We argue that Morris’ novel might be regarded as a crucial antecedent of a number of contemporary novels about sensitive women seeking beauty in small Mallee towns. Her own early experiences in country towns may have contributed to her understanding of the lot of rural women who slaved to maintain their households in precarious conditions. The more complex renderings of the Mallee offered by Morris’ novel, along with the readers’ response to it, show how places are continually being made by the stories told and read about them.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 6 Dec 2021 16:21:48
Subjects:
  • North West Victoria, Victoria,
  • Mallee, North West Victoria, Victoria,
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