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The Morality of Gentlemen by Amanda Lohrey & This Freedom by John Morrison

by
December 1985–January 1986, no. 77

The Morality of Gentlemen by Amanda Lohrey

Apcol, 243 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

This Freedom by John Morrison

Penguin, 200 pp

The Morality of Gentlemen by Amanda Lohrey & This Freedom by John Morrison

by
December 1985–January 1986, no. 77

This fine first novel by a thirty-six-year-old Tasmanian woman was first published in 1984, but to the best of my knowledge has received only one review. Certainly, ABR missed it, and I would not have read it had it not been entered in the Vance and Nettie Palmer Victorian State Government awards for fiction. Had I been able to persuade my fellow judges of its merit, it would certainly have made the shortlist. Lohrey’s talent as a writer has finally been acknowledged in the latest issue of Scripsi, which prints an extract from the novel she is currently working on, as well as a substantial and thoughtful review by Anne Diamond.

The novel is based on a series of events that took place during the mid-1950s on the waterfront of Hobart involving the Hurseys, father and son. Although I was only about fourteen at the time, I can still remember the way the case dominated the newspaper headlines day after day and split my own family down the middle for a time, male against female, ALP-er against Grouper. For readers who wish to pursue it further, there is another superb fictional account in B.A. Santamaria’s autobiography.

Laurie Clancy reviews 'The Morality of Gentlemen' by Amanda Lohrey and 'This Freedom' by John Morrison

The Morality of Gentlemen

by Amanda Lohrey

Apcol, 243 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

This Freedom

by John Morrison

Penguin, 200 pp

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