Jolley, Elizabeth (1923-2007), a British-born novelist who immigrated to Australia in 1959, was noted for comic works with underlying serious themes. Jolley’s works include detailed observation of the more eccentric aspects of life. Her characters often suffer from a sense of alienation or displacement. Many of her novels are set in such institutions as hospitals or schools. She also wrote about the difficulties experienced by European migrants in Australia and relations between women. Among her best-known novels are a partly autobiographical trilogy consisting of My Father’s Moon (1989), Cabin Fever (1990), and The Georges’ Wife (1993).
After writing for many years, Jolley first gained recognition for a series of radio plays in the 1970’s. She then won praise for the short story collections Five Acre Virgin (1976), The Travelling Entertainer (1979), and Woman in a Lampshade (1983). Her short stories were later collected in Fellow Passengers (1997).
Jolley’s first, and most realistic, novel is Palomino (1980). She explored aging in two early novels noted for their grotesque elements, The Newspaper of Claremont Street (1981) and Mrs. Scobie’s Riddle (1983). Jolley dealt with the power of storytelling in Miss Peabody’s Inheritance (1983) and Foxybaby (1985), both featuring a novel within the novel. She wrote Milk and Honey (1984) and The Well (1986) in a Gothic and fairytale-like style. Her other novels include The Sugar Mother (1988), The Orchard Thieves (1995), Love Song (1997), An Accommodating Spouse (1999), and An Innocent Gentleman (2001). Her essays were collected in Central Mischief (1992). Her diary and some poems were published as Diary of a Weekend Farmer (1993).
Monica Elizabeth Knight was born on June 4, 1923, in Birmingham, England, to a British father and an Austrian mother. She was brought up speaking German at home. In 1959, she moved with her husband to Western Australia, working at various jobs and writing in her spare time. Beginning in the late 1970’s, Jolley taught creative writing at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University) in Perth. Many of her students later became successful writers, notably Tim Winton. Jolley died on Feb. 13, 2007.
