Book Around the Corner

In 2020 I signed up for the Australian Women Writers (AWW) challenge. The rules are simple: read as many books as possible by Australian Women Writers and link your review to the AWW page.

There are four levels in this challenge:

• Stella: read four, review at least three
• Miles: read six, review at least four
• Franklin: read ten, review at least six.
• Create your own challenge: nominate your goal

I reached the Miles level this year. I read six books by Australian Women Writers and wrote a billet for each. Here are the books I read, sorted according to their year of publishing:

1865: Mr Hogarth’s Will by Catherine Helen Spence. I loved this book with its Austenian plot, its feminist and progressist vibe. Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

Jane and Alice Melville are looking for respectable work and a living wage. Although well qualified – they have been given a ‘boy’s education’ by their uncle Mr Hogarth – neither can find a suitable position. They are disinherited by their uncle who believes that this will make them into independent women. But a knowledge of accountancy, minerology and agricultural chemistry counts for nothing in a woman (even a woman like Jane Melville) in nineteenth century Scotland.
Driven to desperation in their struggle to support themselves, eventually they look to Australia for new opportunities. But life in the new world has its own problems.

1896: A Humble Enterprise by Ada Cambridge. I imagine that Ada Cambridge had read Mr Hogarth’s Will as it also has a feminist side. A Humble Enterprise is the tale of daughters who open a teashop in Melbourne after their father dies abruptly, leaving them without an income. It’s like The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy. (1888)

1904: Sisters by Ada Cambridge. Sisters is a very bleak and cynical vision of marriage and it’s hard to imagine that it was written by the same author as A Humble Enterprise.

1910: An Autobiography by Catherine Helen Spence. After reading Mr Hogarth’s Will, I wanted to know more about its author and started CH Spence’s Autobiography. Also some passages are a bit long and obscure for non-Australians or for the modern reader, it was a fascinating read about an exceptional woman. Recommended to remember that not all the pioneers were men.

1960: The Catherine Wheel by Elizabeth Harrower. Only the excellence of Harrower’s writing pushed me to finish The Catherine Wheel. It’s the story of a toxic relationship that slowly tortures and destroy a young woman, Clemency James.

2016: Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan. I needed an entertaining read and Toni Jordan wrote an excellent Australian vaudeville. I had a lot of fun reading Our Tiny, Useless Hearts and I found the fun I was looking for.

When I look at my selection of books, if we put aside CH Spencer’s Autobiography, all books are about marriage, relationships and the fact that women often draw the short straw in the marriage game. Even the 19th century novels are quite feminist, showing women in positions where they have their lives in their hands and try to be independant. All these books are worth reading, for different reasons but if I have to pick one, it’ll be Mr Hogarth’s Will. 

Many thanks to the team in charge of AWW. I don’t know yet if I’ll participate in 2021 but I might. If you want to hop on the AWW train, check out the 2021 subscription page.