Thursday, March 29, 2007

Vale Elizabeth Jolley

Elizabeth Jolley died in Perth at the age of 83, on February 13th. I remember reading Palomino, her first novel, shortly after it was published in 1980, and feeling validated by seeing myself, or at least parts of my life, reflected on the page. The novel explores a passionate affair between an older and a younger woman, a theme which she revisits often. Miss Peabody's Inheritance (1983) and The Well (1986) continued her interest in lesbian relationships, often in an obscure, understated way. In her cardigan and sensible shoes, and with her modest manner, Elizabeth Jolley disguised a prodigious talent. Despite her long and successful marriage to Leonard (a librarian!) she regularly demonstrated an openness to love between women. Why did she write on this theme? She was notoriously private. Perhaps a clue lies in the fact that a stipulation in her will ensures that her diaries will be locked in the NSW Mitchell Library vault for as long as her children are alive (all of whom are in the 50s) or alternatively for up to 25 years after her death. Elizabeth Jolley's novels are easy to find, secondhand at Books and Collectibles or new from the Feminist Bookshop