Elizabeth Harrower

Internationally acclaimed for her five brilliant novels, Elizabeth Harrower is also the author of a small body of short fiction. A Few Days in the Country brings together for the first time her stories published in Australian journals in the 1960s and 1970s, along with those from her archives—including 'Alice', published for the first time in 2015 in the New...

Zoe Howard is 17 when her brother, Russell, introduces her to Stephen Quayle. Aloof and harsh, Stephen is unlike anyone she has ever met, described as 'a weird, irascible character out of some dense Russian novel'. His sister, Anna, is shy and thoughtful, 'a little orphan'. They may come from different social worlds, but all four will spend their lives...

"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,...

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...

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. Originally published in 1958, The Long Prospect was...

Zoe Howard is 17 when her brother, Russell, introduces her to Stephen Quayle. Aloof and harsh, Stephen is unlike anyone she has ever met, 'a weird, irascible character out of some dense Russian novel'. His sister, Anna, is shy and thoughtful, 'a little orphan'. Zoe and Russell, Stephen and Anna: they may come from different social worlds but all four...

Elizabeth Harrower is one of the literary finds of the decade: The Watch Tower (Text, 2013) and the lost classic In Certain Circles (Text, 2014) have been rightly praised by critics and the public alike. Now comes the latest reissue from Harrower's back catalogue, 1979's The Catherine Wheel.

Esther Prescott has seen little of life outside her wealthy family's Rose Bay mansion - until flashy Stan Peterson comes roaring up the drive in his huge American car and barges into her life. Within a fortnight, they are living in his Kings Cross (Sydney) flat. This story of a troubled and obsessive marriage, set against the backdrop of postwar...