The Watch Tower
| Author | Elizabeth Harrower |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 219 pp |
The Watch Tower (1966) is a novel by Australian author Elizabeth Harrower.[1]
Plot outline
[edit]Laura and Clare Vaizey are sisters living in Sydney in the period around World War II. When their father dies and their class-conscious mother decides to return to live in England the sisters are left to fend for themselves. Laura abandons her medical studies, goes to work in a factory and accepts a marriage proposal from Felix Shaw on the understanding that he will also look after her sister. But Felix is an attention-hungry tyrant with a lack of empathy who sets out to belittle, gaslight and demean the two sisters at every opportunity.
Critical reception
[edit]Reviewing the novel in The Washington Post on its reissue in 2012 Michael Dirda was unequivocal: "This is a harrowing novel, relentless in its depiction of marital enslavement, spiritual self-destruction and the exploited condition of women in a masculinist society. It reminded me of Zola in its unflinching depiction of two sisters entangled with a moody, violent man, one of them being gradually crushed into subservience, the other struggling desperately to save her own soul. It is a brilliant achievement."[2] Praised by Patrick White in his letters edited by David Marr.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]Text Publishing re-issued the novel in 2012 as part of their Text Classics series.[3]
After the novel was re-issued the author was interviewed by Ramona Koval for The Monthly.[4]