Jean Devanny (1894–1962)
Author of Cindie
About the Author
Works by Jean Devanny
Associated Works
Happy Endings: Stories by Australian and New Zealand Women 1850s-1930s (1987) — Contributor — 11 copies
In Deadly Earnest: A Collection of Fiction by New Zealand Women 1870s–1980s (1989) — Contributor — 7 copies
American Aphrodite: A Quarterly for the Fancy Free (Volume 3, Number 11) (1953) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Devanny, Jean
- Other names
- Crook, Jane
- Birthdate
- 1894-01-07
- Date of death
- 1962-03-08
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- novelist
columnist
short story writer - Organizations
- Australian Communist Party
Writers League - Relationships
- Franklin, Miles (friend)
Barnard, Marjorie (friend) - Short biography
- Jean Devanny, née Crook, was born in Ferntown, New Zealand. Her father William Crook was a miner. She attended school until age 13, when she had to leave to care for her mother and younger siblings. In 1911, she met Francis "Hal" Devanny, also a miner and deeply involved in union affairs. They married the same year and had three children. She learned to play the piano and violin, participated in political activity, and joined Marxist study groups. The family moved to various mining towns before settling in Wellington, where they bought a boarding-house, but it was unsuccessful. By the 1920s, Jean had turned to writing. Her best-known work, The Butcher Shop, was published in 1926. She also published a book of short stories and several more novels, expressing her feelings on motherhood, female consciousness and sexuality, and women's rights, as well as issues of left-wing politics. In 1929, the family moved to Australia, believing that a warmer climate would help their son Karl's weak heart, and became involved in the Communist Party of Australia. Jean was one of the founders of the Writers' League, later the Writers' Association, with Katharine Susannah Prichard and Egon Kisch. In 1935, she became the League's first president. She was a close friend and correspondent of Miles Franklin, Marjorie Barnard and Winifred Hamilton, She had had several disagreements with the leadership of the Communist Party that led to her expulsion in 1940. During the 1950s, she wrote many articles and short stories about the northern Queensland region in which she had settled.
- Nationality
- New Zealand (birth)
Australia - Birthplace
- Ferntown, New Zealand
- Places of residence
- Palmerston North, New Zealand
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Wellington, New Zealand - Place of death
- Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Associated Place (for map)
- New Zealand
Members
Reviews
This was a welcome surprise. This is a novel set historically in North Queensland, specifically the sugar cane industry in that state, in the years 1896 to 1906. The state was in upheaval as the quasi-slavery condition of the industry was forced to reckon with a rabid White Australia movement centred on the Labor Party. The indentured labourers from Melanesia on which sugar depended were to be repatriated after Federation and their work was to done by Australians only. This was not because show more there was any sympathy for the Melanesian labour but because non-whites were not wanted in Australia.
Devanny writes from experience as a speaker for the Movement against War and Fascism in Queensland in the 1930's and it is there she gathered her material for the novel.
The novel exposes the inequalities of colonial settlement even though Cindie ( a most capable servant) and Randolph Biddow (her boss) attempt a non-racist approach to cane farming. Their approach is none-the-less paternalistic and exploitative.
This is a highly readable novel, historically informative and it has a well paced plot. The happy ending is a bit contrived but it can be forgiven, and Cindie herself is a little too much of a goody to be convincing. show less
Devanny writes from experience as a speaker for the Movement against War and Fascism in Queensland in the 1930's and it is there she gathered her material for the novel.
The novel exposes the inequalities of colonial settlement even though Cindie ( a most capable servant) and Randolph Biddow (her boss) attempt a non-racist approach to cane farming. Their approach is none-the-less paternalistic and exploitative.
This is a highly readable novel, historically informative and it has a well paced plot. The happy ending is a bit contrived but it can be forgiven, and Cindie herself is a little too much of a goody to be convincing. show less
I quite enjoyed this look at a sugar cane plantation in Queensland during the White Australia movement (1896-1907 were the years covered in the book). At age nineteen Cindie goes to the new farm as the servant of the farmer's wife but immediately falls in love with the land and works like a man to make the farm a success, later introducing timbering and coffee to the plantation. She and her boss recognize the South Sea islanders, the Kanakas, that he hires (although that's not an accurate show more description of what he does) and the Aborigines as humans and treat them with dignity even as they exploit their labor. Devanny, herself a Communist, has written a sort of problem novel, and that's my main problem with it.
It's clear that describing and explaining the political and human ramifications of Australian unification are more important to her than the crafting of a novel as a work of art. Most of the time that didn't matter because she did tell a compelling story to support her concerns. I just couldn't quite believe in Cindie herself. Her motivation for staying with the Biddows was not adequately explained to me when she was offered marriage by a man whom she liked and respected, who would have given her her own farm to develop. Her romance at the end of the book struck me as equally contrived. Those quibbles aside, I was fascinated with the time and place and with some of the other characters. show less
It's clear that describing and explaining the political and human ramifications of Australian unification are more important to her than the crafting of a novel as a work of art. Most of the time that didn't matter because she did tell a compelling story to support her concerns. I just couldn't quite believe in Cindie herself. Her motivation for staying with the Biddows was not adequately explained to me when she was offered marriage by a man whom she liked and respected, who would have given her her own farm to develop. Her romance at the end of the book struck me as equally contrived. Those quibbles aside, I was fascinated with the time and place and with some of the other characters. show less
Cindie tells the story of a young woman who goes to Queensland, Australia, to work for Randolph Biddow, who owns a sugar plantation, his wife, Blanche, and their two young children. Cindie thrives in her new environment, and she rises to become manager on the estate. Sharply in contrast to her is Blanche, who complains ceaselessly about her new life and feels bitter and jealous towards her former maid.
It’s a beautiful story, made even more vivid by the lush way in which Jean Devanny show more describes North Queensland and the people who inhabit it. She highlights beautifully the differences between whites, Aborigines, and Kanakas, set against a real historical event: the creation of the Commonwealth Bill in the 1890s, under which Australia’s Constitution was made legal by Queen Victoria. There’s a distinct difference between the whites and the natives, and it’s interesting to see how such a major turning point in Australia’s history influenced them. I loved Jean Devanny’s description of the place in which the novel is set; I do love it when a place becomes a character on its own.
But the star of the show is, of course, Cindie, who proves herself to be a likeable character, despite the fact that she can seem distant sometimes. She’s hard-working and industrious, and doesn’t take the way she’s treated by Blanche lying down. She’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind; nor is she afraid to assert her independence by not marrying. In direct contrast to Cindie, of course, is her employer Blanche, who dislikes Cindie once she begins to take on more responsibility around the plantation. She’s suspicious and distrustful of how much trust Randolph places in Cindie, but sometimes I think Blanche goes overboard in her behavior. Despite my problems with Blanche’s character, I really enjoyed this novel. show less
It’s a beautiful story, made even more vivid by the lush way in which Jean Devanny show more describes North Queensland and the people who inhabit it. She highlights beautifully the differences between whites, Aborigines, and Kanakas, set against a real historical event: the creation of the Commonwealth Bill in the 1890s, under which Australia’s Constitution was made legal by Queen Victoria. There’s a distinct difference between the whites and the natives, and it’s interesting to see how such a major turning point in Australia’s history influenced them. I loved Jean Devanny’s description of the place in which the novel is set; I do love it when a place becomes a character on its own.
But the star of the show is, of course, Cindie, who proves herself to be a likeable character, despite the fact that she can seem distant sometimes. She’s hard-working and industrious, and doesn’t take the way she’s treated by Blanche lying down. She’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind; nor is she afraid to assert her independence by not marrying. In direct contrast to Cindie, of course, is her employer Blanche, who dislikes Cindie once she begins to take on more responsibility around the plantation. She’s suspicious and distrustful of how much trust Randolph places in Cindie, but sometimes I think Blanche goes overboard in her behavior. Despite my problems with Blanche’s character, I really enjoyed this novel. show less
Set in 1890s Queensland: when sugar cane plantation owner, Randolph Biddow welcomes his imperious wife, Blanche, and their two children, to the estate,they face a very different lifestyle. Accompanied by their servant, Cindie Comstock, Randolph finds little support from his wife. It's Cindie who develops an all-consuming passion for agriculture, business...and who ably steps up to managing the Aborigene and Kannaka (South Sea Islander) workers.
As Blanche becomes consumed with jealousy at show more Cindie's untiring competence, becoming Randolph's second-in-command, the state faces political upheaval with the White Australia movement agitating for the return of ethnic minorities to their homeland (as the farmers fear the possible impact of such a move on their work.
It was a pretty compulsive read; written in 1949, the author can be more outspoken about certain topics than a contemporary writer would.
I'm not at all sure I could buy the selfless workaholic nature of Cindie, and - like the reviewer below- the final denouement felt...unlikely. show less
As Blanche becomes consumed with jealousy at show more Cindie's untiring competence, becoming Randolph's second-in-command, the state faces political upheaval with the White Australia movement agitating for the return of ethnic minorities to their homeland (as the farmers fear the possible impact of such a move on their work.
It was a pretty compulsive read; written in 1949, the author can be more outspoken about certain topics than a contemporary writer would.
I'm not at all sure I could buy the selfless workaholic nature of Cindie, and - like the reviewer below- the final denouement felt...unlikely. show less
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 13
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 159
- Popularity
- #132,374
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 6
- ISBNs
- 17
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 2