A Descant for Gossips

by Thea Astley

First published in 1960, this novel centres on three sensitive, emotional individuals in a narrow-minded country town. Two schoolteachers are drawn to each other by their shared qualities of honesty, tolerance, and dsire to understand. They also share a concern for Vinny Lalor, a young girl isolated from her peers. But rumour and malice mount against the three, sweeping them into isolation and, ultimately, disaster.

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Novels, 20th Century, Literary Fiction

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Thea Astley was one of Australia's most respected and acclaimed novelists. Born in Brisbane in 1925, Astley studied arts at the University of Queensland. She held a position as Fellow in Australian Literature at Macquarie University until 1980, when she retired to write full time. In 1989 she was granted an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Queensland.

She won the Miles Franklin Award four times - in 1962 for The Well Dressed Explorer, in 1965 for The Slow Natives, in 1972 for The Acolyte and in 2000 for Drylands. In 1989 she was award the Patrick White Award. Other awards include 1975 The Age Book of the Year Award for A Kindness Cup, the 1980 James Cook Foundation of Australian Literature Studies Award for Hunting the Wild Pineapple, the 1986 ALS Gold Medal for Beachmasters, the 1988 Steele Rudd Award for It's Raining in Mango, the 1990 NSW Premier's Prize for Reaching Tin River, and the 1996 Age Book of the Year Award and the FAW Australian Unity Award for The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow.

Praise for Thea Astley:

'Beyond all the satire, the wit, the occasional cruelty, and the constant compassion, the unfailing attribute of Astley's work is panache' Australian Book Review

Reviews

[zed · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good this book it hurts. This is my second Thea Astley novel and if I thought the Miles Franklin award winner The Slow Natives was very good this, her second novel verges on great.

Written in 1960 this stunning books stands the test of time. The author’s writing shows profound cynicism from the beginning and very deep sadness at a very bitter end. The descriptive prose and the use of brilliant analogy and metaphor make Thea Astley a great writer and I for one look forward to immersing myself in her work well into the future.

The themes of the book are what many should not have to relate to but just maybe could. Cruel gossip that cuts at the core of the understanding reader as they are taken on a journey of the pretentiously small town middle class. A middle class forcing their pathetic demands for conformity onto their children and their children's peers as they swill sherry at their beach houses but seem to, with consummate ease, wallow in their own barbaric self-serving pity. It was true back in the time that this book was written and can still be to this very day. Ask any one that has left a small town in Qld to escape the rigid thinking of their so called betters. In fact ask anyone anywhere about their needs to leave small minded thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AJP...

All around the room in a whirl
You saw dancers catch fire when you were still a girl
In a town that’s built on the whispers of tattlers
But yet to inspire a single a single dot in the Commonwealth atlas

God only knows how these things ever start
An empty plate in the place of a heart
That finds it’s way on a trail of crumbs
And stains windowpanes on the prints of thumbs

So go take rest
Pull the blankets up tightly with your knees to your chest
A far off sound
But to such delicate ears it must seem like there’s a zoo burning down

A nagging ache there must be some place better
Searched through every library book down to the last letter
Even Thornfield Manor sounds enticing
With echoes down the hall and on the walls the heads of bison

So go take rest
Pull the blankets up tightly with your knees to your chest
A schoolyard song
And no one can blame you for getting it so horribly wrong

The old saddlers breath that always smells of leather
The café sign letters been faded forever
Irrelevant facts from the history tester
Snowed under the chalk dust of last semester

Can’t you see
What it’s done to your mother, what it’s done to me?
All their words
Will shatter into pieces when I lock you in my arms again

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title page of my battered 1983 copy of A Descant for Gossips tells me that it was formerly the property of schoolgirls Emma from 10NR and Marianne from 10MM – whose teachers presumably chose it as a set text because the novel shows the brutal power of teenage bullying. But while I ached with compassion for poor, plain, lonely 14-year old Vinny, it was her teacher Helen Striebel who stole my heart, and it was her sad resignation to the power of small-town gossip that resonates with me still.

When kids bully, or they stand by as a supportive audience for the bully, they do it without really knowing the consequences. How can they, with their limited experience of life and immature capacities for empathy? It is up to the family and the school to teach young people about those potentially tragic consequences, and in the adolescent absence of maturity or concern for others, it’s the adults’ responsibility to monitor behaviour and provide swift, effective responses whenever bullying takes place.

But adults purveying gossip as they masquerade behind self-righteousness know full well what they are doing, and they delight in it anyway. When Thea Astley (1925-2004) wrote this marvellous book way back in 1960, she would not have dreamed of today’s sordid celebrity culture and its spiteful gossip, justified by its readers as harmless fun because they think its victims are rich, offstage, and ‘asked for it’ anyway by becoming famous. What Astley did know, and has depicted in her trademark incisive style in A Descant for Gossips, is the viciousness of small-town gossip. It is a searing experience, reading this book, but if I had my way, it would be a set text for adults everywhere.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/04/13/a-...

[Shawn Mooney (Shawn Breathes Books)]

I abandoned this — Astley’s second novel, published in 1962 — just shy of the 40% mark. I pretty much hated the writing, swollen with adjectives and adverbs and marred by some of the most pretentious word choices I’ve ever encountered in fiction: prognathous! ellipsoidal! rachitically! Even more so, the prose kept me too distant from the characters. Just not a novel for me.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a books ends...and gives me a 'skin shiver'
...then I know I have read genius.
Australian writer, Thea Astley
...not often on 'reading lists', but this one is a #MustRead.

[Noah Melser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small town outside of Brisbane. Lives of teachers and students within it, along with the pressures of town gossip. Well written once again, I liked the drive down to Brisbane and the pies on the way. Also good to have a little train station and a train trip and a dusty sparse country pub hotel.

[Anne Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thea Astley's second novel, set in a small town in 1950s Queensland. Main characters are two teachers and a pupil. The plot slowly unfolds the relationship between the adults, as it's closely observed by the town gossips. The pupil plays a part of her own, based on her rejection by her peers. It's a powerful story, with some humour among the destructive capacities we humans have. Astley was pulled up by her editors etc for her style . Here it's like a Christmas pudding - over rich really, imagery so dense each sentence takes a lot of digesting. Fortunately, at the same time it's quite a short book.

[Katie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

another fabulous Australian author that needs to be read and discussed more! Thea Astley is an absolute pro: whether it's a hot summer's day, or a bored middle aged housewife, she invokes an imagery that transplants you smack bang into the middle of 1960s regional Queensland. A riveting read about the ability of gossip to be as destructive and easily spread as a wildfire, especially in a small town. All three main characters are tragic in their own way; the townspeople are vulgar in their delight for spreading gossip, and the landscape equally beautiful and stifling. Absolute must-read. Happy to lend it!

[Pamela Briant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written story set in a small Queensland town filled with small-minded people. It depicts the emotions of the various characters in exquisite detail. The similies, metaphors and other language techniques had me reading and re-reading paragraphs, just for the sheer enjoyment of the fabulous imagery it portrayed.

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The late Thea Astley is my favourite Australian author. I first read this, her 2nd novel, in 1986. I am slowly re-reading all her books now & have been reminded why this is one of her best. Hypocrisy & bigotry, especially when they occur in small towns, are some of Astley's recurring themes & both are prevalent in Gossips. An alienated 12 year old's almost friendship with her 30 something teacher provides Vinny with a reason for living. But Helen's romantic relationship with a 4o something fellow teacher upsets the conservative mores of the country town, especially those who consider themselves to comprise its upper strata. Published in 1960, this book reflects on the narrow-minded 1950s in withering fashion. Astley's writing is so powerful it seems to have muscles, but her ability to reach out & grab you by the heart is devastating. I cared so much for Vinny, & the sadly star-crossed lovers, even though I suspected that nothing would end well. I unreservedly recommend this author to anyone who loves good writing combined with searing emotions that never tip over into sentimentalism. Check her out.

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried but Moller was so revolting I couldn’t imagine anyone falling for him. At first, I thought the writing was beautiful but it soon became overblown and tedious.

[Patsy Bourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible prose - the language is extraordinary in the word selection and descriptiveness. 'A Descant for Gossips' is the first time I have read Thea Astley. From this text initially published in 1960 which was her second book, she later won four Miles Franklin awards.

This is set in a small, rural, fictional, Queensland community not far from Gympie, Brisbane and the coast. It is very much of its time in the way life is depicted. The main characters are teachers in the very small local school and one of the 13 year old students.

Having gone to a two teacher primary school in rural NSW in the mid 1960s, my link with much of 'the how' of education in that environment was very familiar, as was the key role the school holds in the community. I was taken back to the dusty school-yard, lunchtimes trying to 'fit in' with the cool kids, being among the last to be picked on sporting sides to make up the numbers and finding a quiet pepper tree in the corner of the yard to escape at times. It was also a time when teaching as a profession was valued by many which also could mean that teachers were held responsible for providing a moral compass.

The description of the hall used for the school dance was evocative of the timber buildings with the supper room to one side that was the scene of many social occasions in such locations. I was transported back to those times where phone communication was by at times unreliable landline, where personal privacy was extremely limited and when 'doing the right thing' was paramount to social survival.

The acerbic descriptions of the judges of such behaviour was vicious - it was reminiscent of Daisy Buchanan in 'The Great Gatsby' who was very careless of other people's feelings in obtaining what was sought for herself.

Vinny the 13 year old is gawky, skinny, intelligent girl. The latter can be a burden in an environment this type of attention is not valued by her cohort. She is the youngest member of a single parent family where the drunk, violent father has left some years previously. It was well before the time of the social changes brought in by the Whitlam government to provide some support to those with such disadvantage. Her mother tries at times but overall she is worn out by life and does not really understand her daughter.

The painfulness of adolescence is present for all and the way in which it is depicted is agonising and resonant. It demands attentiveness from the reader which is rewarded when soaking in the language. I look forward to reading more from this amazing Australian author so well depicting the time and place in which she writes.

[Annemarie Woltmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that kept me reading but also frustrated me. Astley perfectly evokes the feeling of a closeted regional town in a hot climate. The storyline is interesting and conveys well, the perspective of a young bullied girl, totally lacking in meaningful support. My heart bled for Vinny. It also showed the nasty small-mindedness of the townspeople.

But Thea Astley seems scornful of people as a whole. The way she portrayed people felt mean at times. Talking about “Amazon-thighed women”, and “pimply Jews”. And the way that Moller spoke to Helen was horrifying at times: “you’re incurable female…try to be a bit male”. It was hard to see him in a romantic light.

I also found Thea Ashley’s writing style very frustrating. Incredibly loaded sentences and paragraphs, full of overstuffed descriptions. It would take 2 pages to describe 1 scene. Very tedious. She also did this thing here and there, where a paragraph would involve dialogue between 2 people, and then in the next paragraph, it would jump to different people. This felt disjointed.

But if I skimmed past the verbiage, the story was good. Just deeply sad.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this. Some beautiful descriptions of the Australian landscape and interesting characters. Found the affair between the teachers a bit annoying in the way they were painted as innocent victims but the story showed the hypocritical and destructive nature of gossip, particularly in a small town, very effectively. Could empathise w Vinny and although the ending was frustrating it suited the tone of the book.

"There you are....We do it so that any manners or good taste that we attempt to give them may be thrown back in our teeth. We correct so that parents may criticise our harshness, and we neglect with sheer weariness and hopelessnes so that parents may criticise our indifference. But all the time, all the time, mark you, we must be cautious of ourselves; we must live righteously within the law and the subsections of the Education Act. Circumspection is our ruling word."

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is Australia's 'Catcher in the Rye'. A small town tragedy of gossip, ignorance, mis-education, loneliness and suicide. I thought Australian women writers all spent too much time describing plants, until I read Thea Astley.

[Gigi Hoyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had to abandon this book. which i saw someone else say but like damn. characters lowkey insufferable. writing is beautiful but truly just way too many words to say virtually nothing at all. poor lillian. the whole book should hand been about Vinny. fuck moller. ugly loser

[Kim Becker (MIDDLE of the Book MARCH)]

Admirable writing. But meh...

[GaiB · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - overwritten and underinteresting

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never read A Descant for Gossips until late last year, although I'd seen the ABC adaptation in the eighties, which was made a thousand miles from the real setting in a different Australian state, which distorted the story immensely.

In fact the events portrayed were set in an era I lived through, and in my backyard: what is now called, for tourism purposes The Sunshine Coast, its hinterland, and in Brisbane, hardly regional Queensland as has been suggested.

Astley's descriptions of the town. the north coast and Brisbane half a century or so ago are extremely accurate and evoked strong memories of times and places in one who was there.

It has one of the saddest endings to a novel I have ever read, and one consumes a few in six decades or so. Why Astley chose to end the story on such an unpleasant, shocking and rather contrived note will remain a disappointing mystery.