The Long Prospect [Text Classics].

Harrower, Elizabeth; McGregor, Fiona (introduction).

ISBN 10: 1922079480 / ISBN 13: 9781922079480

Published by Text Publishing Company, Melbourne, 2025

About this Item

Paperback large trade, very good condition, minor edgewear. 277 pp. Sharply observed, bitter and humorous, this novel by Elizabeth Harrower is the powerful story of life in an Australian industrial country town. Growing up neglected in a seedy boarding house, Emily Lawrence befriends Max, a middle-aged scientist who encourages her to pursue her intellectual interests. Innocent Emily faces scandal, suburban snobbery and psychological torment because of this friendship. Introduction by Fiona McGregor. Originally published, 1958. This is the Text Classics edition, 2012, as reprinted in 2025.).

Seller Inventory # 18639

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Long Prospect [Text Classics].
• Publisher: Text Publishing Company, Melbourne
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1922079480
• ISBN 13: 9781922079480
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: New ed.
• Seller catalogs:
  • AUSTRALIAN FICTION

About this title

Synopsis

Introduced by Fiona McGregor Sharply observed, bitter and humorous, The Long Prospect is a story of life in an Australian industrial town. Growing up neglected in a seedy boarding house, twelve-year-old Emily Lawrence befriends Max, a middle-aged scientist who encourages her to pursue her intellectual interests. Innocent Emily will face scandal, suburban snobbery and psychological torment.

About the Author

Elizabeth Harrower was born in Sydney in 1928 but her family soon relocated to Newcastle where she lived until she was eleven.

In 1951 Harrower moved to London. She travelled extensively and she began to write fiction. Her first novel Down in the City was published in 1957, and was followed by The Long Prospect a year later. In 1959 she returned to Sydney where she began working for the ABC and as a book reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1960 she published The Catherine Wheel, the story of an Australian law student in London, her only novel not set in Sydney. The Watch Tower appeared in 1966. Between 1961 and 1967 she worked in publishing, for Macmillan.

No further novels were published though Harrower continued to write short fiction. Her work is austere, intelligent, ruthless in its perceptions about men and women. She was admired by many of her contemporaries, including Patrick White and Christina Stead, and is without doubt among the most important writers of the postwar period in Australia.

Elizabeth Harrower lives in Sydney.


Fiona McGregor is a Sydney author and performance artist. She writes novels, essays, short stories and critiques, he has published five books. Her latest is Indelible Ink.