[Editor: This book review, of the novel Earth’s Quality by Winifred Birkett, is an extract from the “New novels” section published in the The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.), 27 April 1935.]
New novels
A welcome addition to Australian fiction is “Earth’s Quality,” an ably written story by Miss Winifred Birkett (Angus and Robertson; 6/).
The people of Laverock become pleasantly familiar to the reader of the quiet chronicle, which begins with the reflections of old John Weldon as he sits in the lonely homestead. Most of the years of his life have been given to the making of Laverock, and this has exemplified his belief in slow accomplishment and stability. He has hoped that one or more of his four sons will carry on the work, but three have been killed in the war, and the fourth, Charles, has chosen to remain in London, where he has become a successful author.
John Weldon is not satisfied with his nephew, Herbert, as lessee of Laverock, and he has limited the terms of the lease so that a change may be made when it seems desirable. Although his eyesight has almost failed, Weldon has ways of learning how his nephew is conducting the work, and silently he condemns Herbert’s sheep as scrubby, and his ideas generally as not worthy of earth’s quality in general or of the quality of Laverock in particular.
Fortunately, Charles, who returns occasionally, has enough affection for the old life to approve his son Alec’s desire to train for work on the land in Australia, and in due course Alec is chosen by his grandfather to take charge of Laverock.
The story is kept moving by episodes associated with the return of Charles and Alec, and by the love for colour and for bonfires of Herbert’s son Ray, whose brain has become clouded as a result of incidents of earlier years. Stella and Tinonee provide charming varieties of womanhood, and the small girl Jill is amusing.
Source:
The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.), 27 April 1935, p. 5 (Metropolitan Edition)
Editor’s notes:
scrubby = inferior, of poor quality, undersized; messy, shabby, wretched
Winifred Birkett = Winifred Birkett (1897-1966), author and poet; she was born in North Sydney (NSW) in 1897, and died in 1966
See: 1) “Winifred Birkett (1897—1966)”, Oxford Reference (Oxford University Press)
2) “Winifred Birkett”, Wikipedia
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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