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Female Companions

by
March 1981, no. 28

Palomino by Elizabeth Jolley

Outback Press, $12.95 pb, 260 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

The Travelling Entertainer and Other Stories by Elizabeth Jolley

Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 181 pp

Alone by Beverley Farmer

Sisters Publishing, 102 pp

Female Companions

by
March 1981, no. 28

Palomino establishes Elizabeth Jolley as absolutely one of the best writers of fiction in this country, although it is a book that in some ways does not, I think, entirely resolve the problems it poses for itself. As I interpret Palomino one of the things Elizabeth Jolley intended to explore in her first novel, is the contrast between a person whose genes, hormones or whatever dictate that they shall for ever and irreversibly be homosexual; and a person whose sexual nature is capable of change and influence. She also pursues themes like this in some of her excellent short stories. The lovers in Palomino are Laura and Andrea, and it is Andrea’s excessive background that confuses the basic issues, a point I will return to.

Palomino

Palomino

by Elizabeth Jolley

Outback Press, $12.95 pb, 260 pp

The Travelling Entertainer and Other Stories

The Travelling Entertainer and Other Stories

by Elizabeth Jolley

Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 181 pp

Alone

Alone

Beverley Farmer

Sisters Publishing, 102 pp

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