麻豆约拍

Over a tennis match, orphans Anna and Stephen are welcomed into the rarified world of the Howard family.

Internationally acclaimed Australian author Elizabeth Harrower's novel was written in 1971 and was finally published in 2015.

This tale of love, class and freedom is set among the grand houses and lush gardens of Sydney Harbour just after the Second World War, following the lives of Zoe and Russell Howard.

Charismatic and confident, the children of affluent and loving parents, they welcome into their circle, Stephen and Anna, two orphans, whose lives until now have been very different from those of the Howards. But despite this, these four will spend the rest of their lives moving in and out of each other's shadows.

'Harrower evokes the waste and futility of a decadent class with all the bite and poignancy of F Scott Fitzgerald,' Eimear McBride, New Statesman

Author: Elizabeth Harrower is regarded as one of Australia's most important postwar writers, and is enjoying a recent literary revival. Born in Sydney in 1928, her first novel, Down in the City, was published in 1957 and was followed by The Long Prospect (1958) and The Catherine Wheel (1960). Her most well-known work, The Watch Tower, was published in 1966 to huge acclaim.

Four years later she finished In Certain Circles , but withdrew it before publication for reasons she has never publicly spoken of. The manuscript was rediscovered recently by her publisher who felt it should be published immediately. Harrower has since received rave reviews, including comparisons with Emile Zola and F Scott Fitzgerald.

Reader: Penny Downie

Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on 麻豆约拍 Radio 4 in February 2015.

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