Handfasted

by Catherine Helen Spence

Describes a Scottish feminist Utopia which had been isolated for 100 years before beingdiscovered by an Australian traveller in Victorian times. The main features of Columba were that women were equal to men and women were freed from traditional sexual constraints by the custom of trial marriage which sanctioned the changing of sexual partners and made illegimacy an unknown concept.

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Scottish-born Australian novelist, a critic, an accomplished journalist, a preacher, a lecturer, a philanthropist, and a social and moral reformer. Australia’s first female political candidate after standing for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide, and a keen campaigner for electoral reform, (Thomas Hare's voting scheme for the representation of minorities). She admitted in her autobiography that she was late to 'lend a hand' to the Australian suffragist movement, believing that electoral reform for male voters was a higher priority than votes for women.

Reviews

[Cat_the_reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recommended this to me as I wanted to try and diversify what I read. She knows I love dystopian fiction, sci-fi and books that challenge me, as well as the fact that I wanted to read more Aussie books.

Handfasted took a while to get into, but I loved the story. The main character, Hugh, was totally affable and his loyalty to family and his heritage sound. Through his observations on the community of Columba, Spence was able to make astute observations on the society she lived in - observations that resonate with today's society.

While the story may seem 'slow' in some places, it seemed to me that it was because Spence wanted to make sure that the reader was considering their own view of the world in which they lived - issues on marriage, governance, loyalty, justice - and decide whether progress and industrialisation are always positives.

Spence's tale is a brave one, considering the society in which she was writing. It is obvious as to why it wasn't published when first written, as it would have sent ripples through an Australian society so close to federation.

I'm glad my friend recommended it to me. It's definitely worth reading, even if only for the fact that Spence is a little-known author.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, what a book. What an amazing author - to have thought in this way in 1879!
This is a very interesting read - to see how the author thought in such a time, which would have been controversial indeed.
A brief summary of the plot ***SPOILERS AHEAD *** - it starts off as a grand adventure with Hugh Keith setting off for the usual grand tour, but changes his plans when he finds out about relatives who ventured to the Central Americas and were never heard from again. He eventually finds these people are still alive and have prospered, but have many 'strange' customs from having been separated from the old society for over 100 years. The custom he finds strangest of all is 'Handfasting' - a practice of marrying your partner for 1 year before deciding if you will stay with them for the rest of your life. At the end of the year you either walk away from your partner or commit. Hugh falls in love with a local woman called Lilliard Abercrombie and finds her unable to read, but a very gifted storyteller and fast learner. They decide to leave the colony together and face many challenges because Lilliard refuses to marry until a year is up. Needless to say western society is not very accepting of these views.
I have left many details out, like what they do with any children born when hand fasted, but hopefully you get the idea.
This is not the most gripping of authors, as most of the novel is about stating what is wrong with society and a recommended solution - as you can imagine there are many holes in this theory, but at least the author was trying to come up with an answer to the problem of marrying people who hardly know each other and spending the rest of their lives in misery.
A thought provoking book, like a French meal - can be very simple but those few herbs that set the meal onto a different level make it seem so much more.
I was thinking about this book long after I finished reading it.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is after some mental stimulation and wondering if religion was not involved how people would have developed.