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The Sundowners
Superbly written and deeply moving, The Sundowners showcases one of Australia's most talented authors at the height of his powers. The epic tale of the outback Australian family, the Carmodys. The Carmodys live in the outback, travelling around, shearing, droving, making ends meet and looking for that one special place they can settle down in. Along the way, Paddy, his wife Ida, and their son, Sean, meet some of the most memorable characters in fiction. The Sundowners is a novel filled with kindness and happiness, as well as toughness and danger and is set against the magnificent backdrop of the wild, harsh and beautiful Australian landscape. In 1960 The Sundowners was turned into a film starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Peter Ustinov with a supporting cast including Chips Rafferty.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1952
8 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
Jon Cleary
127 books24 followersAustralian popular novelist, a natural storyteller, whose career as a writer extended over 60 years. Jon Cleary's books have sold some 8 million copies. Often the stories are set in exotic locations all over the world or in some interesting historical scene of the 20th century, such as the Nazi Berlin of 1936. Cleary also wrote perhaps the longest running homicide detective series of Australia. Its sympathetic protagonist, Inspector Scobie Malone, was introduced in The High Commissioner (1966). Degrees of Connection, published in 2003, was Scobie's 20th appearance. Although Cleary's books can be read as efficiently plotted entertainment, he occasionally touched psychological, social, and moral dilemmas inside the frame of high adventure.
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 27, 2014
This is probably Cleary's most famous novel and unlike most of his work it is neither a thriller, nor a detective mystery. It is also his most personal as Paddy & Ida are modelled on his parents. Cleary's father was a wanderer before Jon was born and he told the young boy stories about his time as a drifter. At a time when Cleary was a long way from Australia, and probably a little homesick, he penned this novel. Even when Cleary wrote this novel (1951), the people and style of living was already fading; now for much of the country they are just sun faded ghosts - even here in the Territory, the remnant of these characters are holed up in retirement villages and largely silent.
The time is just before the Great Depression hit Australia and initially I was dismayed to think I was reading an Australian Odyessy. Fortunately, the journey is part of the novel & is much stronger than that old hackneyed narrative device. The novel is full of characters that tourists flock to Australia to see and never do (a little like tourists looking for the Wild West cowboy). The men are hard working & hard drinking; the women are laconic and even more hard working and resigned to their fate of being a woman. There are 2-up games, and larrikin pranks, and an impromptu cricket match, and the country races.
Paddy is probably considered a lovable rogue by others, but for me he was an irresponsible, self-centred, selfish arsehole. The family have grown tired of the roving lifestyle, being sundowners, but Paddy makes promises you know he will never keep. HE loves the lifestyle and having his wife deal with all the household chores which are just plain difficult circumstances. Considering how he has commented on his poor luck, the way he splashes the family earnings around is quite disgraceful. I can't say more, so not to spoil the climax, but I think you get the gist of his attitude.
I do realise I am putting a 21st perspective on an early 20th century time, so I shall stop being unreasonable. This is another book to remind me how lonely Patrick White was in the Australian literary stage. Cleary's book is very similar in style & plot to that of say Vance or Nellie Palmer, of Kylie Tennant; however, so very divorced from the material being written by White. White's material might have an Australian background, but his themes and ideas were very universal.
Is this worth reading?? Definitely: it is full of stereotypes that made Australia the cultural scene it is now, but who have completely disappeared; the hardships of those on the land have no lessened any from now, but it is interesting in the faith they had in a rosy, prosperous future; and the prejudices then are still here, but with the people's ethnicity changed. The Depression followed by the severe drought during the early part of WW11 would have a huge impact on the sundowners, such that their numbers would rapidly decrease to just a memory by the 1960s.
The time is just before the Great Depression hit Australia and initially I was dismayed to think I was reading an Australian Odyessy. Fortunately, the journey is part of the novel & is much stronger than that old hackneyed narrative device. The novel is full of characters that tourists flock to Australia to see and never do (a little like tourists looking for the Wild West cowboy). The men are hard working & hard drinking; the women are laconic and even more hard working and resigned to their fate of being a woman. There are 2-up games, and larrikin pranks, and an impromptu cricket match, and the country races.
Paddy is probably considered a lovable rogue by others, but for me he was an irresponsible, self-centred, selfish arsehole. The family have grown tired of the roving lifestyle, being sundowners, but Paddy makes promises you know he will never keep. HE loves the lifestyle and having his wife deal with all the household chores which are just plain difficult circumstances. Considering how he has commented on his poor luck, the way he splashes the family earnings around is quite disgraceful. I can't say more, so not to spoil the climax, but I think you get the gist of his attitude.
I do realise I am putting a 21st perspective on an early 20th century time, so I shall stop being unreasonable. This is another book to remind me how lonely Patrick White was in the Australian literary stage. Cleary's book is very similar in style & plot to that of say Vance or Nellie Palmer, of Kylie Tennant; however, so very divorced from the material being written by White. White's material might have an Australian background, but his themes and ideas were very universal.
Is this worth reading?? Definitely: it is full of stereotypes that made Australia the cultural scene it is now, but who have completely disappeared; the hardships of those on the land have no lessened any from now, but it is interesting in the faith they had in a rosy, prosperous future; and the prejudices then are still here, but with the people's ethnicity changed. The Depression followed by the severe drought during the early part of WW11 would have a huge impact on the sundowners, such that their numbers would rapidly decrease to just a memory by the 1960s.
September 20, 2019
Aussie Aussie Aussie. Oi oi oi. If you ever wonder what the Aussie outback life is about, this is the book for you.
This story captures the spirit of the outback in the 1910’s. Life was as luxurious as a tent on a starry night.
The central characters are the Carmody’s: Paddy, Ida and son Sean as well as a ring in Venneker. The family, like many of the others around this time, are of Irish descent. They are living on a shoestring looking for work from town to town. Paddy enjoys the unrestrained life on the go whilst the others long for stability.
Paddy finds work as a drover, a sheep shearer and as a jockey. Each endeavour involves wrecklessness spouting from Paddy’s binge drinking. I don’t think the author is aiming to create a likeable person in Paddy because he isn’t. He is a bit of a selfish pig. But you can also see remnants of his character in the men of yesteryear when being a man was different than what it is today.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to feel what life was like in the Australian outback during the 1910’s.
This story captures the spirit of the outback in the 1910’s. Life was as luxurious as a tent on a starry night.
The central characters are the Carmody’s: Paddy, Ida and son Sean as well as a ring in Venneker. The family, like many of the others around this time, are of Irish descent. They are living on a shoestring looking for work from town to town. Paddy enjoys the unrestrained life on the go whilst the others long for stability.
Paddy finds work as a drover, a sheep shearer and as a jockey. Each endeavour involves wrecklessness spouting from Paddy’s binge drinking. I don’t think the author is aiming to create a likeable person in Paddy because he isn’t. He is a bit of a selfish pig. But you can also see remnants of his character in the men of yesteryear when being a man was different than what it is today.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to feel what life was like in the Australian outback during the 1910’s.
April 1, 2022
Jon Cleary in his day was famous for writing thrillers and detective novels that were regulars on best seller lists. Most of his books are now out of print and more or less forgotten. This book, his one true classic, is atypical of his work.
It is loosely inspired by the stories his father told him of life on the track. An Australian way of life that is now sadly gone forever. The characters are old school Aussie battlers who face life with stoicism and humor.
I found this book hauntingly beautiful, funny in places, and authentically Australian.
Thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this and will probably re-read it in a couple of years it was that good.
It is loosely inspired by the stories his father told him of life on the track. An Australian way of life that is now sadly gone forever. The characters are old school Aussie battlers who face life with stoicism and humor.
I found this book hauntingly beautiful, funny in places, and authentically Australian.
Thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this and will probably re-read it in a couple of years it was that good.
May 19, 2019
More densely written than the current style of novel. An earthy story of life in the Australian bush. This is the story of a marriage, a coming-of-age story, and the story of the restless, wandering life of many poor but hard working (and often hard drinking) men and women in the 1920s. The child-like Paddy leads his long suffering but loving wife Ida and son on an endless trail across the outback. The plotting is episodic and introduces a number of colorful characters. It also gives a feel for the loneliness of many of these characters, especially the few and far between wives and daughters. There is a certain thematic connection to Of Mice and Men: the long search for home. The reader is spared a cricket match by the opportune arrival of a downpour.
March 7, 2023
A truly great Australian story, well told, with a wonderful range of characters. Simple in some ways, but deep enough to pull you in. Truly appreciated the authors ability to set scenes, accurately describe life of the time and context, and build in some wonderful truths of family, friendship, faith, hope, and heartache with some pertinent moral applications. A classic for good reason. Really enjoyed it.
May 27, 2019
I'm "pleased as a kangaroo with two pouches" to have read this coming-of-age tale of 14-year-old Sean, his long-suffering mother Ida, and his n'er-do-well father Paddy as the roam the Australian outback in the 1920s. Sheep driving, bush fires, sheep sheering, drinking, gambling, birthin' babies, and plenty of quirky characters along the way. Thanks, Debbie.
September 27, 2017
A good read. On the road. Droving, bushfires, shearing, country horse races. Drinking, growing up, the birth of a child. An old view of Australia. Paddy was a total dick when it came to wife and child but he did not see it and they endured stoically.
September 29, 2017
At first, the depiction of the Australian outback & its population during this era held my attention, as it's not a topic I've read about before -- and the characters are unique. But after 100 or so pages, I put the book down and just didn't care enough to pick it up again.
January 31, 2018
Wow, it's not for nothing that this is an Australian classic. It's wonderful. Great sense of place, beautiful writing, and memorable characters. Plus it's funny and tragic and unexpected. I loved it.
August 20, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but only up to the last chapter.
Might be me but he lost me with the why and what happened at the last horse race. Might be fine for those who understand horse racing.
The ending was, well, disappointing.
Might be me but he lost me with the why and what happened at the last horse race. Might be fine for those who understand horse racing.
The ending was, well, disappointing.
June 22, 2025
I wasn't crazy about Paddy.
keep-in-mind
February 4, 2011RE: _The Sundowners_
I see via TCM-TV that this book has been adapted to film:
"The Sundowners" (1960)
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The_S...
I like the cast (Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov). So I may order the film from Netflix.
Deborah Kerr speaks with an Australian accent in this film. Unusual.
(There are some cute little sheep too.) :)
Jon Cleary is another author to tap for possible reading choices.
I see via TCM-TV that this book has been adapted to film:
"The Sundowners" (1960)
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The_S...
I like the cast (Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov). So I may order the film from Netflix.
Deborah Kerr speaks with an Australian accent in this film. Unusual.
(There are some cute little sheep too.) :)
Jon Cleary is another author to tap for possible reading choices.
Read
February 11, 2010great story of Australian spirit. You can not help but be enthused and heartbroken for Ida and Sean, as they live through the ups and downs with the Patriarch of Carmody family, Paddy, and their true friend Venneker
March 25, 2013
I like the message of this book that home is with your family- wherever they are. But I didn't love some of the choices the Dad made that let them to figuring that out. It was only ok in my opinion.
Read
January 31, 2010well I read right to the end...it was a heartbreaker...
July 25, 2013
Heartwarming, witty and full of Aussie-isms. Loved it.
August 13, 2013
This was a gorgeous book! Quintessentially Australian, beautiful characters, great story telling and thoroughly entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews