Return to Coolami

by Eleanor Dark

An emotional novel that explores the psychological impact of four people thrown closely together during the course of a motor trip from Sydney to the interior of Australia. Set in the 1930s, Return to Coolami is the story of a two-day motor car trip from Sydney, across the Blue Mountains to the country property, Coolami. For each of the occupants of the shiny green Madison tourer, it becomes an interior Susan and Bret, recently bound together in a marriage which seems to have little future, painfully grope towards some understanding of the events that have brought them together Susan's parents contemplate their thirty-seven years of matrimony and wonder if their youthful yearnings and aspirations have been too easily set aside. Along the way, they discover a new understanding of themselves and each other. 'A thriller that belongs to the world of literature it deals with real life and real people'. H.M. Green in A History of Australian Literature"

Genres: Classics, Australia

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Eleanor Dark (1901 - 1985) was an Australian author, most known for her historical novel The Timeless Land (1941), which became a bestseller in Australia and the USA.

Dark was born on 26 August 1901 at Croydon, Sydney, second of three children of Sydney-born parents Dowell O’Reilly, schoolteacher and author, and his wife Eleanor Grace, née McCulloch, who died in 1914 after an unhappy marriage and a period of ill health. Small, dark and elfin, 'Pixie', as she was known to her family, attended several private schools before boarding at Redlands, Neutral Bay, from 1916 to 1920.

Although Pixie had written verse from the age of 7, as the family’s finances grew tighter her hopes of university and a writing career faded. After attending Stott & Hoare’s Business College, she worked as a stenographer for a firm of solicitors, Makinson, Plunkett & d’Apice, for eighteen months. She married Eric Payten Dark, a medical practitioner and a widower with an infant son, John, on 1 February 1922 at St Matthias’s Church of England, Paddington. Eric and Eleanor shared many interests: literature, history, tennis, bushwalking, mountain-climbing and gardening. Next year they moved to Katoomba. In the relative isolation of the Blue Mountains she resumed writing. Eric enthusiastically encouraged her. They were absorbed in each other; John moved back and forth between them and his mother’s family and later boarded at Sydney Grammar School, visiting the Darks for occasional weekends. Their son Michael was born in 1929; Eleanor was a devoted mother to him.

Dark used the pseudonyms 'P. O’R.' and 'Patricia O’Rane' for the verse which she wrote in the 1920s and early 1930s. It was published in Australia by journals including the Triad, Bulletin and Woman’s Mirror, but was not very significant. Her short stories were also published in these journals and in Motoring News, Home and Ink.

She wrote her ten novels between the 1930s and 1950s. Seven had contemporary themes, often utilising the techniques of modernism, exploring contemporary relationships and politics. Her other three novels - beginning with The Timeless Land - formed an historical trilogy and were her most popular and best-selling works.

Both Eleanor and Eric were openly leftist in their views throughout a period when Australia was increasingly conservative. They were monitored by the government during the "Red scare" of the 1940s and 1950s, for fear they were members of the Communist Party (they weren't).

Dark largely abandoned writing after 1960. Although she worked on manuscript novels and plays, she lost interest due to a combination of low sales and the changing tastes of the public. In the late 1970s, Dark was awarded an Order of Australia medal, and her books were gradually republished in the 1980s as a new wave of artists and feminists discovered her writings. By this time, she was ill, and died in 1985 in hospital.

Reviews

[Grier · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Asha Kodah · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful prose. Dark firmly sits as a very favorite. near Faulkner good.

[Oanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. I am a firm fan of Eleanor Dark. She writes powerfully of the Australian landscape, rural & urban, and is astute in how she renders complex emotions.

[Dani Ringrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. I picked it up in a free street library, as part of it was set driving through the Blue Mountains, and was written by Eleanor Dark, who used to own what is now known as Varuna. The scenes of Bret going for a rescue up a mountain at night were quite tense, and I loved reading about someone rock climbing from the perspective of the 30s, before proper safety equipment. I absolutely fell over with reading Susan's tragic situation she'd fallen into, and hoped as the story progressed she could find her way out to happiness again.

[Rachel Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the first 80 pages veryyyy slow and dry and confusing due to the non-linear nature of the narrative. The majority of the important plot points and the emotional cruxes of the story all take place in flashbacks and aren't revealed until a fair while in, therefore it takes a while until the reader is invested (or even cares) about the characters. If I wasn't studying this book I would probably have DNF'd it 50 pages in.

I also really didn't like the parents' storyline. Millicent and Tom were fine, but I didn't connect to their whole midlife crisis b-plot and wished it wasn't included at all (although I am biased as I am a young person; I'm sure lots of older readers enjoyed and may have related to this).

My favourite part was definitely the Bret/Jim/Susan dynamic. It was tragic and hopelessly romantic and nuanced and I loved it. However this dynamic definitely suffered due to the novel's structure, as I (and others) assumed Jim was an affair who impregnated a married Susan. But once I realised everything, I was totally on board.

[Eliatan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written book. A novel written over the course of a two day road trip, about three related couples, it delicately explores the love between imperfect people and their generosity of spirit towards each other, even in the most trying of circumstances. An interesting exploration of empathy, and forgiveness, each member of each couple had the relatively unique ability to appreciate their life from their partners point of view. Containing some clever one liners, I was surprised by this novel's contemporary feel, despite it being written over 80 years ago. I suppose that goes to show that despite all our technological and societal changes, where it counts we're still living the same sorts of lives, and loves, people have always lived.

[James Bigglesworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters were engaging, but I would have liked to have seen more character development as I don't feel that the motivations of anyone were entirely fleshed out. On occasion I found the sentence style annoying, several times I found myself re-writing paragraphs in my mind to achieve a better flow. Return to Coolami is a work set of its time, and to fully appreciate some of the issues presented you need an understanding of middle-class Australia of the period.

From an entertainment perspective, I enjoyed the book and read it over a 24 hours period.

[*❆ Kαɾҽɳ ❆* · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book indeed!
I felt connected to all of the characters, felt their emotions, see through their eyes! Eleanor Dark did a magnificent job in writing in different point of views, quite clever in how she moved from each character's views
I loved how she gave the readers much back story, you felt you were living in the moment, despite it being in the past
Definitely a five-star rating, a beautifully, emotional book.

[Mandii DiNozzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this book, I struggled to relate to the characters. I would not have read this if it wasn't a requirement of my course, wouldn't recommend.