The Long Prospect: Text Classics

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.

Originally published in 1958, The Long Prospect was described as ranking second only to Patrick White’s Voss in postwar Australian literature. This edition has an introduction by Fiona McGregor.

Elizabeth Harrower was born in Sydney in 1928 and moved to London in 1951. She travelled extensively and 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. No further novels were published until May 2014 when Harrower’s ‘lost’ novel, In Certain Circles, was released. 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 died in Sydney on 7 July 2020 at the age of ninety-two.

Fiona McGregor is the author of five books, her most recent novel Indelible Ink winning the Age Book of the Year award. She writes essays and reviews, and is working on another novel. She is internationally known as a performance artist, completing the epic Water Series at Artspace, Sydney, in 2011. fionamcgregor.com