Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower (Susan Wyndham, NewSouth)

In Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower, journalist and author Susan Wyndham offers a sympathetic and illuminating exploration of the life and work of one of post-war Australia’s most significant writers. Through a chronological account interwoven with literary analysis, Wyndham traces how Harrower’s life shaped her writing and how certain challenges hindered her career, including her difficulty earning a living as an author. Harrower spent much of her energy editing other people’s work while employed at Macmillan, and her own writing output was further curtailed by grief, exhaustion and intense perfectionism. After years of limited recognition, Harrower’s revival began in 2012, when Text Publishing reissued her most popular and critically acclaimed novel, The Watch Tower, followed by four other novels and a collection of short stories. Wyndham, who co-edited Hazzard and Harrower: The Letters and spoke with Harrower on multiple occasions before her death in 2020, brings a depth of research and insight to this story of Harrower’s life, while also offering observations on the evolution of Australian literature and publishing. Her richly detailed writing rewards close reading and offers tantalising glimpses into Harrower’s wider social circle, which included many prominent writers of the time. This biography will appeal to fans of Harrower’s work, as well as to academics, students and readers interested in the Australian literary landscape and literary biographies. 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Ellie Pope is a librarian and avid reader who is passionate about literature. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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