What do you think?
Rate this book
The eye of the beholder
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 19, 2022
My original reason for reading this book was that I had read that it contained some information about my grandfather's first cousin, Molly Dean, who was brutally murdered in the back streets of Elwood, Melbourne, in 1930, at the age of 25. She was a school teacher and aspiring writer who had befriended the artistic community known as 'The Meldrumites' (after the artist Max Meldrum), and the artist Colin Callahan in particular. The description of Molly comes fairly early in the book, and I was in two minds as to whether or not to continue once I had read it. I decided to keep going, and I am glad I did.
This is a tough book to read, and would have taken a great deal of courage and talent - and perseverance - to write. Betty Roland was herself a writer, and was drawn to the artistic community that subsequently created Montsalvat, the strange (at least to my eye) little collection of medieval England-looking buildings that were created in the heart of what was then the Australian bush at Eltham. The book is ostensibly about Montsalvat's spiritual leader, Justus Jorgensen. While there is indeed a great deal about Jorgensen the book, it is primarily about Roland herself.
From the account given here, Roland left a remarkable, but ultimately rather difficult and lonely, life. She had many relationships with men, though none of them provided her any lasting happiness, and she eventually swore off men entirely - a decision she never regretted. She had a daughter, Gilda, with the Communist Guido Baracchi, and she remained devoted to Gilda for the rest of her life (which is more than can be said of Baracchi).
Roland was quite clearly captivated by Jorgensen, though it is not entirely clear from this book exactly why. She paints him as a very unpleasant man - vain, self centred, arrogant, manipulative, cruel, and callous. He may have had many virtues to offset some of these vices, but there is not much evidence of them here.
Roland appears to have spent much of her life living at Montsalvat, then becoming increasingly disillusioned with it, moving out to live alone to regain her independence, then becoming terribly lonely, moving back to Montsalvat filled with optimism that it will be better this time, finding that it isn't, moving out on her own again, becoming lonely again, moving back to Montsalvat again, etc. etc.
I found myself in awe of her ability to sustain herself as a professional writer - mainly writing serials for magazines and radio - but frustrated with her inability to learn that she could never be happy living at Montsalvat.
I have always found the settlement at Montsalvat rather creepy. It never felt healthy to me. Reading this book, I can see how right I was to feel this way. No doubt Montsalvat has its defenders and, at the end of the day, I never lived there, so I'm not really in a position to judge. Betty Roland was, though, and the picture she paints is not pretty. To be fair, though, she did develop a genuine affection for many of those who lived there including, ultimately, for Jorgensen himself.
'The Eye of the Beholder' is a long and rather painful read, but a very worthwhile one nonetheless. It is also one of the few books that talks in some detail about what it was like living as a civilian in Australia during the Second World War. Furthermore, it paints a detailed picture of the 'Meldrumites' who, love them or loathe them, are an important piece in the mosaic of Australian cultural history.
This is a tough book to read, and would have taken a great deal of courage and talent - and perseverance - to write. Betty Roland was herself a writer, and was drawn to the artistic community that subsequently created Montsalvat, the strange (at least to my eye) little collection of medieval England-looking buildings that were created in the heart of what was then the Australian bush at Eltham. The book is ostensibly about Montsalvat's spiritual leader, Justus Jorgensen. While there is indeed a great deal about Jorgensen the book, it is primarily about Roland herself.
From the account given here, Roland left a remarkable, but ultimately rather difficult and lonely, life. She had many relationships with men, though none of them provided her any lasting happiness, and she eventually swore off men entirely - a decision she never regretted. She had a daughter, Gilda, with the Communist Guido Baracchi, and she remained devoted to Gilda for the rest of her life (which is more than can be said of Baracchi).
Roland was quite clearly captivated by Jorgensen, though it is not entirely clear from this book exactly why. She paints him as a very unpleasant man - vain, self centred, arrogant, manipulative, cruel, and callous. He may have had many virtues to offset some of these vices, but there is not much evidence of them here.
Roland appears to have spent much of her life living at Montsalvat, then becoming increasingly disillusioned with it, moving out to live alone to regain her independence, then becoming terribly lonely, moving back to Montsalvat filled with optimism that it will be better this time, finding that it isn't, moving out on her own again, becoming lonely again, moving back to Montsalvat again, etc. etc.
I found myself in awe of her ability to sustain herself as a professional writer - mainly writing serials for magazines and radio - but frustrated with her inability to learn that she could never be happy living at Montsalvat.
I have always found the settlement at Montsalvat rather creepy. It never felt healthy to me. Reading this book, I can see how right I was to feel this way. No doubt Montsalvat has its defenders and, at the end of the day, I never lived there, so I'm not really in a position to judge. Betty Roland was, though, and the picture she paints is not pretty. To be fair, though, she did develop a genuine affection for many of those who lived there including, ultimately, for Jorgensen himself.
'The Eye of the Beholder' is a long and rather painful read, but a very worthwhile one nonetheless. It is also one of the few books that talks in some detail about what it was like living as a civilian in Australia during the Second World War. Furthermore, it paints a detailed picture of the 'Meldrumites' who, love them or loathe them, are an important piece in the mosaic of Australian cultural history.
April 26, 2026
A compelling, yet gruelling read. I can only imagine what Roland would have had to go through to write this, and I admire her strength in doing so. Roland's book provides very much a valuable and insightful first-hand perspective into the lives of artists living at Montsalvat under the eminent, yet controversial Justus Jörgensen. This book provides under-researched information about Australia's art scene through both the Montsalvat artists and women artists/writers at the time. Without giving away too much, it is poignant, bitter yet honest biography. There is much about Roland's own struggles to make her way with her writing, as well as her tumultuous personal life.
This, Sue Vanderkelen's The Cruel Man and Sonia Skipper's autobiography are all indispensable in learning more about the unwritten histories of Australian women artists. Hopefully more books will be written on these women in future.
This, Sue Vanderkelen's The Cruel Man and Sonia Skipper's autobiography are all indispensable in learning more about the unwritten histories of Australian women artists. Hopefully more books will be written on these women in future.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews