Astley, Thea (1925-2004), was an Australian novelist and short-story writer. Her fiction characteristically centers upon characters who struggle to maintain their identity in a state of moral and intellectual isolation. Much of Astley’s fiction is set in Queensland and portrays the hypocrisy, racism, violence, and narrow-mindedness she saw in small-town life in Australia. Her fiction also reflects her Roman Catholic upbringing.
Astley’s first two novels, Girl with a Monkey (1958) and A Descant for Gossips (1960), were partly autobiographical. Later novels include The Well Dressed Explorer (1962), The Slow Natives (1965), A Boat Load of Home Folk (1968), The Acolyte (1972), A Kindness Cup (1974), An Item from the Late News (1982), Beachmasters (1985), Reaching Tin River (1989), Vanishing Point (1992), Coda (1994), The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow (1996), and Drylands (1999). She also published two collections of related short stories, Hunting the Wild Pineapple (1979) and Raining in Mango (1987). Astley’s Collected Stories was published in 1999.
Thea Beatrice Mary Astley was born on Aug. 25, 1925, in Brisbane, Queensland. She graduated from the University of Queensland in 1947 and taught English at schools in Queensland and New South Wales. From 1967 to 1980, she lectured in Australian literature at Macquarie University, Sydney. Astley died on Aug. 17, 2004.
