Women & Children, by Tony Birch

Tony Birch revisits scenes from his working class youth in a finely crafted novel.

Eleven-year-old Joe Cluny lives with his older sister Ruby and Mother Marion in a dingy working class suburb. It's 1965 and life is lived on the streets. News of who's doing what travels fast. The street is a lightning quick conveyer of information. Joe's father, Stan, is an absent figure. He runs a dodgy business and abruptly left Marion soon after Joe was born. It was a loveless marriage from the get-go, so Marion is happier without him. Joe attends the Catholic Our Lady's School, where the nuns instill terrifying stories of hell. The boy's only outlet is his relationship with his grandfather, Charlie. A retiree from his job as a street sweeper, Charlie collects unwanted junk and employs Joe to help him sort it. His time spent with his grandfather is a respite from the poverty of working class life and cruelty of Catholic school.

Marion's younger sister, Oona, is having troubles. A feisty and assertive girl in her youth, she married Ray Lomax in a flush of youthful excitement, believing she was in love. But the marriage has problems, serious problems. One night Oona turns up at Marion's house distressed. It turns out she's been beaten by Ray. Marion tries to help, but Oona declares she's going back to Ray. The sisters fight, and swear not to see each other again. But Marion's daughter, Ruby, decides to make an impromptu visit to her aunt. What she finds shocks her to her core.

Tony Birch paints a realistic picture of working class life in the 1960s, when women had little agency and men felt they could treat their wives any way they liked. The novel has a wonderfully gritty, pared back atmosphere, written in plain, direct prose. It was a time when people didn't have much in terms of material possessions, a fact highlighted by the junk trader Ranji, grandfather Charlie's good friend. As Joe, Charlie and Ranji go sifting through junk, looking for treasure, it's a reminder of how scarcity can create value. Found objects become revered artifacts. The very opposite of today's throwaway culture. The story isn't all doom and gloom, however. We are given hope that the future will be better. Joe grows up with strong female role models and learns from his grandfather the importance of respecting women. Wife beater Ray Lomax gets his comeuppance in a surprise ending. And there's a great scene where Joe's sister Ruby gets into fisticuffs with some bullying boys, and beats them hands down.

A bracing and realistic portrait of working class Australia in the 1960s.

Women & Children, by Tony Birch. Published by University of Queensland Press. $34.99

NOV23