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archytas's review
4.0
This is the third, and final, installment in the trilogy, tackling the depression, the second world war, and the aftermath. With several 'commies' in the mix - including a hilarious and occasionally poignant pair of flappers - this is the most overtly political of the books. The wild passion of the Spanish Civil War gives way to the gruelling horror of the second world war. Prichard tackles the conflict between returning soldiers, who are largely thrown on the scrapheap by a society not equipped to deal with the aftereffects of physical and mental trauma, and homesick migrants seeking to escape the chaos of Europe, and bringing the more sophisticated political and cultural world with them, with sensitivity and grace.
She starts and ends the books with the perspective of Kalgoorla, one of the local people who have watched their worlds disappear. It is as if Prichard is trying to grapple with the effect of dispossession, without tackling it overtly. It seems an incongrous echo as a result - a note at odds with the sense of progress - a socialist view of progress but progress nonetheless - that imbues the rest of the work.
She starts and ends the books with the perspective of Kalgoorla, one of the local people who have watched their worlds disappear. It is as if Prichard is trying to grapple with the effect of dispossession, without tackling it overtly. It seems an incongrous echo as a result - a note at odds with the sense of progress - a socialist view of progress but progress nonetheless - that imbues the rest of the work.
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