The Queenslander

by Robert Macklin

Palmer Lingard isThe Queenslander.Palmer Lingard grew up in a quiet respectable suburb, in the Brisbane of the 1950s. He is emerging from the sunny, secure world of childhood into the vulnerability of adolescent self-consciousness, romanticism, and insistent, baffling sexuality; a charmed time, when fantasy and reality can magically overlap, and hideously clash; when heightened awareness and sensitivity can create moments of exquisite delight, and deepest misery and disgust.Perhaps everything that happened to Palmer Lingard afterwards could be related to this time in his life, or rather, to its abrupt and wretched end. His whole, strange story had, perhaps, after all, a relentless inevitability.The tale unfolds, and patterns emerge. Palmer moves from suburb to outback station, to city. The women who love him leave their mark—his mother, the eager Marcia, the sophisticated, older Adele. And watching, always watching, is the sad, strange mother of his son, Brolie.Evocative, moving, sometimes chilling, always absorbing, this extraordinary novel is compelling reading.

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[J.D]

Picked this up shortly after I was posted to Brisbane, capital of the great Australian state that is Queensland. A state roundly bagged by its southern cousins as populated by un-urbane, banana-bending hayseeds.
e.g - I was recently hosting a mate from Melbourne at the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel when he noticed a fellow drinker on the next table sporting an ankle monitor, he laughed and noted ‘You know you’re in Queensland!’
That said, this novel was rather enjoyable at a deeper level than one might’ve expected. It really bowled a Doosra of an ending which wrong-footed me, as they’re supposed to, and rended all previous frivolity to perdition. Not a classic, but it certainly stayed with me. Competent storyteller who knew where he was leading the reader. QLD’er!

[Nana Aboagye]

Well crafted plot with interesting characters. "The Queenslander" by Robert Macklin is well written, marking Macklin as a great story teller.