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Amy Witting (1918–2001)

Author of I for Isobel

15+ Works 358 Members 5 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Includes the names: Witting Amy, Amy Whitting

Series

Works by Amy Witting

I for Isobel (1989) 129 copies
A Change in the Lighting (1994) 39 copies
The visit (1977) 27 copies
Maria's War (1998) 23 copies
After Cynthia (2001) 17 copies
Marriages (1990) 14 copies
In & Out the Window (1995) 8 copies
Collected poems (1998) 2 copies
Travel Diary: Poems (1985) 2 copies
Un fulmine a ciel sereno (2022) 2 copies

Associated Works

The Best Australian Essays 2001 (2001) — Contributor — 20 copies
The best Australian stories 2001 (2001) — Contributor — 14 copies
Penguin Australian Summer Stories (1999) — Contributor — 14 copies

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According to Wikipedia , the writing career of Amy Witting, A.M. (1918-2001) always had to be subordinate to earning her living as a teacher of English and French. So although Thea Astley's encouragement led to publication of a short story in The New Yorker in 1965, and Witting had poetry published in Quadrant, her first novel, The Visit, wasn't published until 1977 when she had retired, and was almost sixty.

he novel was published (with a dreadfully dreary cover) by the inimitable Beatrice Davis, by then at Thomas Nelson rather than at Angus & Robertson where she had made her name. (Davis went on to reject I for Isobel (see my review) and so did McPhee Gribble, which just goes to show that even the best of editors can get it wrong. Because I for Isobel went on to be a bestseller when it was finally published by Penguin in 1990. It won the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) Barbara Ramsden Award; and it was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin. More recognition came in 1993 when Witting won the Patrick White Award, and she went on to publish A Change in the Lighting (1994); Maria’s War (1998), and Isobel on her way to the Corner Shop’ (2000). (This sequel to I for Isobel was short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award 2000, and won The Age Book of the Year Award in the same year.) After Cynthia was published posthumously in 2001. Any Witting is one of a small stable of wonderful Australian women writers whose literary fiction was not just a critical success but also much loved by her readership.

Set in the fictional town of Bangoree, (which may have been a disguised version of the NSW town of Kemspey*), The Visit introduces two character types who emerge in Witting's other novels: Barbara is the introverted, insecure character who is the victim, and her mother-in-law Belle Dutton is the brutal bullying mother figure. Old Mrs Dutton thinks she has just come for a visit, but in fact her other daughter-in-law Ivy has absconded after years of enduring her. She's refusing to come home to her husband Lionel if Mrs Dutton is there, so now it's the hapless Barbara's turn. The cast of characters also includes Barbara's friend Naomi, the town librarian and a single mother; Cathy, a young teacher yearning for but not ready for a long-term relationship; Peter, an adolescent boy wondering if a relationship with his long-absent father would help him in his search for identity; Phil Truebody whose career as a doctor has been sabotaged by his embarrassingly alcoholic wife; and Brian, a teacher who fancies himself as a great actor, but isn't.

The Visit is a work of theatre-fiction. These characters enliven the cultural life of the town with play readings, but when Beckett's Endgame is chosen, they decide (with some heavy-handed insistence from Brian) to stage the play because it's on the sixth-form reading list. The summary at Wikipedia explains the significance of this play to the novel's plot:
Briefly, it is about a blind, paralysed man and his servant who await an unspecified “end” which seems to be the end of their relationship, death, and the end of the actual play itself.
Barbara, the town beauty who knows how useless beauty is, is paralysed into indecision and victimhood by the mother-in-law from hell. Mrs Dutton knows exactly what buttons to push. Barbara's solace is Naomi, single mother to Peter, with issues of her own. This excerpt is a splendid example of Witting's subtle mastery of multiple meanings:

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/01/13/the-visit-by-amy-witting/
… (more)
 
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anzlitlovers | Jan 12, 2022 |
Interesting book about a girl/woman living in Sydney in the mid-20th century. There were times (many times) when I found it somewhat too 'poetic' for me - which is not surprising when you realise that the author was also a poet. I prefer my reading to be a little more concrete but nonetheless the basic thrust of the stories was to my liking. I liked the focus on Isobel's inner thoughts and emotions, even in regard to her relationships. I was interested to read a bit of background about the author (real name Joan Fraser, born in Annandale, attended Sydney Girls High, Uni of Sydney [with James McAuley] & Teachers' College, taught at North Sydney Girls High, and was condemned in parliament)… (more)
½
 
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oldblack | 2 other reviews | Apr 6, 2014 |
I felt this novella had a ring of truth to it, autobiographical perhaps. Th author so clearly depicts young Isobel wary of her world, parents teachers and peers. She seeks solace in books and when she finds herself set free, alone in society, Isobel struggles with friendships.
It is eventually through the written word she discovers and accepts herself. I found this a gentle thought provoking read.
½
 
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HelenBaker | 2 other reviews | Jan 6, 2013 |

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Works
15
Also by
4
Members
358
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#66,978
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
5
ISBNs
38
Languages
1
Favorited
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