Lawson

by Grantlee Kieza

The extraordinary rise, devastating fall and enduring legacy of an Australian icon


Henry Lawson captured the heart and soul of Australia and its people with greater clarity and truth than any writer before him. Born on the goldfields in 1867, he became the voice of ordinary Australians, recording the hopes, dreams and struggles of bush battlers and slum dwellers, of fierce independent women, foreign fathers and larrikin mates.

Lawson wrote from the heart, documenting what he saw from his earliest days as a poor, lonely, handicapped boy with warring parents on a worthless farm, to his years as a literary lion, then as a hopeless addict cadging for drinks on the streets, and eventually as a prison inmate, locked up in a tiny cell beside murderers. A controversial figure today, he was one of the first writers to shine a light on the hardships faced by Australia's hard-toiling wives and mothers, and among the first to portray, with sympathy, the despair of Indigenous Australians at the ever-encroaching European tide. His heroic figures such as The Drover's Wife and the fearless unionists striking out for a better deal helped define Australia's character, and while still a young man, his storytelling drew comparisons on the world stage with Tolstoy, Gorky and Kipling.

But Henry Lawson's own life may have been the most compelling saga of all, a heart-breaking tale of brilliance, lost love, self-destruction and madness. Grantlee Kieza, the author of critically acclaimed bestselling biographies of such important figures as Banjo Paterson, Joseph Banks, Lachlan Macquarie and John Monash, reveals the extraordinary rise, devastating fall and enduring legacy of an Australian icon.

Genres: Biography, History, Australia, Biography Memoir, Literature

512 pages, Hardcover

Published October 27, 2021

Reviews

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘The life and times of Henry Lawson.’

I confess to knowing very little about Henry Lawson before reading this book. Sure, I have read ‘The Drover’s Wife and a few other pieces, and vaguely knew that he had written pieces published in The Bulletin. But I knew nothing about the man himself.

Henry Lawson (1867-1922), short story writer and balladist, was born on 17 June 1867 at Grenfell, New South Wales. He was the eldest of four surviving children of Niels Hertzberg (Peter) Larsen, Norwegian-born miner, and his wife Louisa, née Albury. Peter and Louisa were married in 1866 and changed their surname when registering Henry’s birth. Henry Lawson died on 2 September 1922 in Abbotsford, New South Wales.

Mr Kieza writes of Henry Lawson’s upbringing by unhappy parents, of the bullying he faced, his minimal education and of his deafness. But this shy man was clearly perceptive, able to capture the aspirations and struggles of the ordinary Australians around him. His short stories and poems reflect this. Sadly, Henry Lawson was a deeply troubled and self-destructive man. An unsuccessful marriage, emotional highs and lows fuelled by an addiction to alcohol all took a toll on his health, his relationships, and the quality of his writing.

I finished this biography, resolving to read more of Henry Lawson’s work, especially his short stories.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Henry Lawson: Australia’s ‘People’s Poet’.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me the art of the biographer is to make the reader get an insight into the subject, to really feel they know them. If that's what Grantlee Kieza intended in my case it definitely worked. I feel I now know Henry Lawson in a way I didn't know before and have an understanding of what made him what he was. In some parts of the book I was depressed at what I was reading, particularly when Lawson would look like he is going to achieve fame and make the money he needed to escape the grinding poverty that haunts his life only for him to break out and hit the grog. Lawson wrote like an angel. His use of language is sublime. He can paint a scene that makes you feel like you are there. His quality as a writer is up among the greats. Yet his output was limited. He spent time in Darlinghurst Goal on several occasions for non-payment of child support and the prison authorities denied him writing materials. To me the final irony is that after his death and a state funeral the NSW State Government spend $1700 on a headstone for Lawson in Waverly Cemetery and as someone said at the time if that money had have been granted to Lawson during his lifetime he would not have spent the time in Prison, but Government's are not renowned for having common sense.

[Peter Langston · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and thoroughly comprehensive study of Lawson - there are more than sixty pages of references and bibliography - and one that pulls no punches about the man, his genius and the miserable life it gifted him. Kieza also wrote with similar detail about The Banjo but his conclusions were not as compassionate, perhaps because life and circumstance greatly favoured Paterson. Deaf from an early age; the loss of his father; an odious, self-absorbed mother; the star-crossed love lost; a wife who was rightly aggrieved but then paid out on Lawson for twenty years after the fact, until his death; and bipolar, undiagnosed and unknown, unmedicated and manifesting in its ugliest trait, the need to alter the conscious to manufacture the extreme elation of mania or salve the blackness of depression. He was cut no favours. Even his writing was under-appreciated during his life. A wonderful piece of writing by Kieza, in scope, construction and empathy for his subject.

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grantlee Kieza’s book Lawson, is a thoroughly researched and referenced biography of the well-known and celebrated Australian writer and balladist / poet, Henry Lawson. Kieza’s book is an extensive narrative which begins by introducing us to Lawson’s family story and personal circumstances, which were a crucial influence on Lawson’s life and writing. The book progresses to follow the evolution of Henry’s life from a young boy growing up in the bush with warring parents on a worthless farm, to a shy, partially deaf, self-conscious, fragile man, filled with self-doubt and a penchant for alcohol. Grantlee’s exhaustive study of Henry Lawson uncovers a complex character whose inadequacies and troubled life belie, but, in many ways explain, the beautifully descriptive and captivating writing for which he is known. It was said of Lawson that he put his whole soul into his writing, and it is clear from Kieza’s meticulous portrait that Lawson was a deep thinker who wrote from the heart, and from what he knew. He championed the underdog, the working-class battler, and produced writing that was very relatable to ordinary Australians.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned more than I expected to. While exploring Lawson’s life Kieza has provided research which documents an impressive array of contextual information about Australian history. The material about Lawson’s mother Louisa’s work as a newspaper proprietor and suffragist was fascinating. The background history of the Bulletin magazine, the republican movement, Lawson’s interest in socialism, as well as the details about the shearers strike were relevant and illuminating. This in-depth chronicle of the life and times of Henry Lawson has given me a greater respect and appreciation for his incredible writing and encouraged me to re-visit his work.

I would highly recommend Grantlee Kieza’s book Lawson.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Sharon Marchingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant work from Grantlee Kieza!

[Gary Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of the Australian Writer Henry Lawson. He used to be on the Australian $10 bill. A very depressing and savagely miserable life story about an Australian who was as well known in his day as Paul Hogan was in his prime. Lawson was deaf which I never knew. He was a rabid alcoholic who didn’t his entire adult life drunk and wretched. Miserable marriage and simply a man with vision clouded by a constant flooding of booze. You read about the power his stories had in the building of an Australian identity (when that mattered) and how he in a sense lived a parallel but utterly different life than Australia’s other maverick of bush literature, Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson. Banjo an educated lawyer who looked at the bush with the rose coloured glasses as opposed to Lawson’s view of the bush as a wretched and ugly place where Australians struggled day in and day out. I tend towards the Lawson view of the bush. Lawson grew up poor, struggling and fighting poverty. Banjo had an education. He was fully integrated into sexy circle of the well to do. This does not take away his talent and his ability to cheer up the city folk by romanticising the bush. It’s for me like Charles Bukowski who created characters and city settings based on the ugliness of poverty and poorly educated people. There is a thick as fuck line in the sand between Lawson and Paterson. They knew each other and had ‘bush ballad’ write off’s. Like a rappers MC battle. Which proved popular and lucrative. There is no doubt that Henry Lawson if he managed to control his boozing would have not only had a materially successful life he would have lived longer. He got pissed every moment. He deceived everyone he came into contact with to suck money to feed his booze habit. The money he earned from writing poems and stories were at times earning more for two or three poems than a year’s salary for a worker. I have never personally enjoyed Lawson or Paterson’s bush literature but I recognise the talent and the creative power of their work. Lawson, the biography written by Grantlee Kieza is a tough, depressing and ugly portrayal of an Australian icon who perhaps has become irrelevant in terms of his work but he stands as a testament to the ugliness and terrible conditions of bush life. Banjo Paterson is a doppelgänger who painted roses where they struggle to grow. A great read. Really well worth reading. Loved it. Bought at Big W Library for $22.00. Enjoy.

[Jamie Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book on the tragic life of Henry Lawson.

[Pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Lawson, what a sad story was his life.

I didn’t think I’d be able to finish this book.

I became absorbed in the story of an Australian literary genius, it was so incredibly sad at the money he made and constantly lost / spent on drink. What an insight into Henry Lawson mental health.

Also a valuable insight into the social history in the times of Henry Lawson life.

I listened to the audio version of this book.

[Luke Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew little of Lawson’s work before reading this title, but knew of his fame, talent, and great gift of painting Australia with word. I wanted to know more of the man whose works are held in high regard, and Kieza almost does too good a job of capturing who he was. It was confronting to see a life so talented and gifted ruined and wasted by addiction and selfishness. He no doubt had a hard life, but it was one he chose for himself. The whole book is an epic cautionary tale in the dangers of the ego, drinking to excess, and the horrific outcome of a life lived only for what the heart desires. A sad story, which you keep waiting to turn a corner, to have some joy, but no. He died as he lived, an unprecedented Australian talent, but an addict and thoroughly unrepentant one. A legacy of great work, but a life of self-inflicted humiliation and debauchery. A hard read, but informative, well-researched, and highly recommended to any seeking to the truth of what a life lived for yourself might look like.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

News flash. Even Australia's greatest colonial poets and writers were treated like dirt, under paid and had to scrounge for cash to keep them out of the gutter. It's a story that many modern Australian artists and writers live today.

This is the story of the man they claim to be one of this countries finest writers. Lawson is depicted as a master of the everyman, capturing both the good and bad of colonial Australian life. Compared to Banjo Patterson at every turn, Lawson finds his niche capturing the sadder stories that Patterson refused to represent.

Sadness is a big theme in this story. Lawson is miserable at many points and he's poor nearly all the time. He drinks like a fish and it's quite remarkable he lived as long as he did. He survived off the charity of others. There's a few chapters worth of letters recorded here that are just requests Lawson wrote asking for money from mates he met at the paper to house keepers and even a judge that threw him into prison. Lawsons ego doesn't really know any bounds.

I'm glad to have read this story, Keiza managed to keep things moving and there is some great commentary here about Lawson and Patterson that really help to pin point what unique things each writer contributed to the Australian colonial writing scene. However, I just can't go past recommending Girt and True Girt by David Hunt as my go to history books. They are just so snappy and funny, while Keiza managed such a straight forward account, and i'm sure this will suit many people - it's not the most thrilling life account but still a valuable one for anyone with an interest in the early years of Australian colonial literature.

[Craig Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Lawson and his work was always well known to me (I grew up on Henry Lawson Drive),but Kieza reveals a great deal more than I ever knew.
Essentially a chronological journey through Lawsons life and works.
It reveals a tragic almost pathetic figure.
This is the first non-boxing Kieza book I have read but I will definitely be taking a look at his other titles on the strength of this.
Excellent read.

[FreddieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book about one of my favourite writers - 10 out of 10

[Ron Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first saw this book, I had not heard of Grantlee Kieza, but on further reading I saw that he had written the highly acclaimed “Banks.” In fact, he has several biographies to his name that interest me.
“Lawson” starts out with a detailed account of young Henry’s difficult life. I found this part of his life’s story fascinating. The many and varied places he lived, the many and varied jobs he took. He lived and worked in places that are now part of Sydney’s CBD.
In the background was the growing white settlement of Australia. Kieza mentions the republican movement, he also displays the fierce racism expressed by Archibald’s “The Bulletin.” He emphasises the anti-Chinese sentiments that were prevalent in the day. One can see this 140 years later with comments by Australian politicians like Peter Dutton.
I was not aware of Lawson’s serious hearing loss he had as a young man. As with so many writers it was a struggle for him to get his work published.
His over consumption of alcohol was somewhat detrimental to his life, marriage and writing and income. If I have a criticism of tis book is the repetition of Lawson borrowing money, spending on drink and then borrowing more money. This part of Lawson’s story becomes tedious. I recently read Archie Roache’s story and there was a similar pattern. Alcoholism is a disastrous disease.
Lawson and A.B. Paterson were acquaintances. Together they were the fathers of Australian literature. Paterson had a rosier picture of the Australian bush and wrote idealised poems about the bush. Paterson moved in more middle-class circles than Lawson and he married into the wealthy Walker family. Lawson was forever broke and virtually destitute at times.
I would have liked to have read more analysis and interpretation of Lawson’s writing.
I am always interested in how a writer gains his/her love of and skill in, the process of writing. Lawson’s father was illiterate in English while his mother had a passion for the written word and was one of Australia’s first feminists.
My main criticism of this book that Kieza mentions far too often Lawson’s bludging money from his family, friends and acquaintances. Robertson and Archibald are incessantly harried by Lawson for money. His alcoholism made Lawson a most despicable character.
Kieza wrote, “Lawson thundered against people who sent steamers to England with our timber, wool and gold and returned with stunted goods for white faced Australians to sell in our sordid shops. His writing reflected his bipolarity His jingoism was offset by his republican socialism. Bohemianism by a puritan hangover from childhood. He’s feeling for downtrodden women, particularly bush women occasional vehement anti-feminism forged by the bitterness of his separation. His notions of the brotherhood of man by rampant racism. He confessed a hatred for the dry harsh landscape of dirty brown rivers and an ill-disciplined people at the same time as he became a hopeless ill-disciplined addict.”
I would have like a more detailed account of his writing style and technique. How he implemented the writing process. I need to read more of Lawson’s work.
Lawson and Paterson poetry slam through the pages of the Bulletin is something worth pursuing.
While writing this review I realised that September 2 will see the 100th anniversary of the death of Henry Lawson. I wonder how his racism and sexism will be dealt with in 2022?
This biography opened my eyes to Lawson’s life. I must now go away and read more of his work.

[Kaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no disputing the depth of research that has gone into this book. All the facts are there. And that is the problem. The book chronicles rather than delves.

We’re told Lawson wrote this story on this date but, with the exception of The Drover’s Wife, there are few insights into the stories themselves or extracts from them. This seems strange in a book about one of Australia’s greatest writers. I’m familiar with Lawson’s work but would have liked to see more of it in these pages.

It’s a terribly sad story. That is no fault of the author, of course. You can only tell the story of the life that unfolded. But so much of the book is devoted to Lawson’s descent into madness and alcoholism. There is little celebration of his rise to fame, though every bender and every grovelling request for money is documented, making for a tedious read. There are some interesting insights into Australian society at the time and I feel there could have been more of them to give more light to the story.

Overall, I was saddened by this book. I find I don’t like Lawson so much. In the grip of his addiction, he did little to help himself. In the rare high points, he would drink too heartily to his success and plunge himself straight back into destitution. He abused his friends and family. He was not a nice person. That is the picture the author has painted. I commend the honesty but it does not make for enjoyable reading.

[Jennyfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Lawson, the great Australian poet is a key fugure in Australian history, but while we learn of his works in school, how much do we really know of the man behind them?

Here's where Lawson by Grantlee Kieza comes in, to fill those gaps of knowledge. And so we learn of Lawson's humble beginnings in bark shacks on goldfields and farms, the challenges being a deaf, sensitive (in hindsight, possibly neurodivergent) child in outback NSW, his later rivalries with Banjo Patterson, his influence on publishing, union rights and much much more. We learn of his mother's own literary successes, his brother's crimes, and the Lawson's involvement in the politics of the day.

I had no idea that Lawson was so much more than "just" a poet who captured the zeitgeist of his time.

We also learn of his alcoholism, his poverty, mental health struggles and his deeply unhappy marriage.

While it is a bit of a slow read and a little dry at times, this is a fascinating insight into a critical time in Australia's identity and one of the men who shaped it. A must read for students of Australian history.

~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

[Chris Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I lived in North Sydney for a couple of years, I once went for a walk in some local bush land and discovered a plaque to Henry Lawson which basically explained that the spot was one of his haunts when there was no place else to go. I remember too, walking past the National Art School in Sydney and wondering about the imposing building. Nobody told me it was first a gaol! And not just any gaol but one that held Henry Lawson on the many occasions he couldn’t pay alimony to his estranged wife because of his drinking problem. I found the book, Lawson, by Grantley Kieza filled in all the gaps and was an engrossing read. It is a great Australian social history of the era 1867-1923. You don’t need to know or like Lawson poetry! You will meet a great array of well known characters such as Mary Gilmore, Archibald, Jack Lang and, Banjo Paterson. You will learn about the formation of the Labor Party, the workers’ paradise in Paraguay, the Bulletin magazine, Angus and Robertson, The Smith’s Weekly, and conditions in early gaols and asylums for people whose main misdemeanour was being poor.

[David Allwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keira’s ‘Lawson’ is a big book about a big icon who, unfortunately, lived a small life. Henry Lawson’s extensive writings captured the raw mood and lifestyle of an entire Australian era. And this book seeks to capture his life. It is well researched and impeccably written but, disappointingly, the book only provides an understanding of Lawsons behaviours but not his motivations. The book does not address how a poor, largely uneducated, rural boy became a fabled writer and then tragically declined into alcoholism. We know where Lawson went, what he did, and who he did it with, but the author rarely provides an insight into ‘why’. In this book Lawson’s creativity is not explained. The man covered by this book is a pathetic, abrasive alcoholic, but the proud, talented writer is barely explored.

[Mandy J · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was about 11 years old I bought a hardback of While The Billy Boils which also contained On The Track and Over The Sliprails. Fabulous stories that I still pick up every now & then and read a story or two.
Henry Lawson’s is sad story, a fair bit he bought on himself with his drinking. Such a contrast with contemporary Banjo Paterson who led an extraordinary life (I need to find a good bio of him!)
Despite his flaws he was a huge talent and should be celebrated as an Australian icon and legend.
Extraordinary how his estranged wife took on the role of his champion after he died.

[Melissa Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grantlee’s way of storytelling kept me captivated from start to end. An honest and insightful account of a literary great. Lawson was a horrid drunk who was repeatedly lousy to all those who cared for him; and yet, despite this Grantlee manages to capture Lawson in a light that shows him as warm, empathetic and just a lost soul trying to find his way. You can’t not feel for the man by the end of this read.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely well researched and well written book about Henry Lawson. He was a magnificent writer but a sad and disappointed man. The end of this book was depressing and difficult to read, but still fascinating. Alcoholism is so destructive. I am keen to go on an excursion or two, visiting sites in the city and his grave, photographing as I go. It has been so fun to extend the mini unit study I did with the boys.

[cameron ross paton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Wonderfully written biography of Henry Lawson the iconic Australian author of verse and prose that captured an era .
A tragic life of alcoholism and dependence that scuttled his personal life.
Yet some how he managed to produce truly great literature.

[Kim Yeaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a sad story