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y separately published work icon The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel single work   novel   crime   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1984... 1984 The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

''When a succession of murders shatters the tranquillityof an East Anglian seafaring town, irrational suspicion spreads like a contagious plague. In the murky pubs and on the cobbled street corners gossip is rife. Could Frank de Vere have shot his own wife through the head? Could Greg be the mad-dog killer of his brother?'

Source: Blurb.

Notes

  • Dedication: For William Grono - twenty years after 'The Nedlands Monster'

Contents

* Contents derived from the Melbourne, Victoria,:Text Publishing , 2015 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Introduction, Michelle De Kretser , single work criticism

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Notes:
Minor title variations appear in texts
    • Richmond, East Melbourne - Richmond area, Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann , 1984 .
      image of person or book cover 2780527268865399315.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 165, [2]p.
      ISBN: 0858593432
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Melbourne, Victoria,: J. M. Dent ,
      1985 .
      Extent: 165p.
      ISBN: 0460022938 (pbk)
    • Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: Fremantle Press , 1993 .
      Extent: 173p.
      Description: illus., port.
      ISBN: 1863680667
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 3973942117010250509.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 224p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 26th August 2015
      ISBN: 9781925240313
      Series: y separately published work icon Text Classics Text Publishing (publisher), Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2012- Z1851461 2012 series - publisher novel 'Great books by great Australian storytellers.' (Text website.)

Other Formats

  • Also braille. Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

Telling Spaces: Reading Randolph Stow’s Expatriation Kate Noske , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 19 no. 1 2019;

'Randolph Stow’s expatriate novels, Visitants (1979), The Girl Green as Elderflower (1980) and The Suburbs of Hell (1984) are often read as emerging from specific experiences in Stow’s expatriate life, beyond Australia—the two former as his ‘fever’ novels, informed by his work and illness in the Trobriand Islands and subsequent recovery in England; and the latter carrying the experience of an event from Stow’s Australian past into the setting of Harwich, England, where he lived from the early 1980s until his death in 2010. I have discussed elsewhere the overt connection in The Suburbs of Hell to Australia (Noske, ‘Chatter’), but it is also possible to read in the earlier texts connections with Stow’s life in Australia, particularly in his representation of landscape. Reading The Girl Green as Elderflower in this context opens interesting possibilities in understanding the spaces constructed within. This article will argue that Stow’s writing in the novel presents a complex transnationalism, one which challenges extant critical responses to Stow’s expatriation. It reads Stow’s place-making as embracing a fluidity that allows him to actively respond to postcolonialism as a global phenomenon and in doing so, examine Australian spaces through the lens of expatriation.' (Publication abstract)

‘Chatter about Harriet’ : Randolph Stow’s Place-making and 'The Suburbs of Hell' Kate Noske , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 1 no. 18 2018;

'Randolph Stow’s ‘English’ novels, The Girl Green as Elderflower (1980) and The Suburbs of Hell (1984) offer complex representations of space in text, which layer narrative and memory each over the other to inform the known setting. The resulting conceptualisation of place holds at its centre a transnational fluidity, which, when combined with the overt textual links between the stories and Stow’s own life, suggests a unique practice of place-making within his writing as an oeuvre. Reading Stow’s The Suburbs of Hell along these lines suggests it has a greater connection to a more general consideration of Australian narratives of place that might be assumed given its English setting. But what is specifically functioning within Stow’s writing practice to create places which embody this transnational mutability? This paper will examine Stow’s practice in writing for the purpose of understanding the manner in which the text constructs its setting, and whether or not reading these connections between Stow’s life and the text are productive of a cognizance of place-making in terms of writing practice.'  (Publication abstract)

Well Read Katharine England , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 19 September 2015; (p. 28)

— Review of To the Islands Randolph Stow , 1958 single work novel ; The Girl Green as Elderflower Randolph Stow , 1980 single work novel ; Visitants Randolph Stow , 1979 single work novel ; The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel ; Tourmaline Randolph Stow , 1963 single work novel
Like a Thief in the Night Michelle De Kretser , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 374 2015; (p. 67-68, 70)

— Review of The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
Gold, but Not Water Nicolas Rothwell , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22-23 August 2015; (p. 16-17)

— Review of The Girl Green as Elderflower Randolph Stow , 1980 single work novel ; The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel ; To the Islands Randolph Stow , 1958 single work novel ; Tourmaline Randolph Stow , 1963 single work novel ; Visitants Randolph Stow , 1979 single work novel
The Last Mystery Brian Matthews , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , September no. 6 1984; (p. 18)

— Review of The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
Malouf and Stow Jim Davidson , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , December no. 97 1984; (p. 74-75)

— Review of Harland's Half Acre David Malouf , 1984 single work novel ; The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
All Our Villages Have Their Horrors Ian Hicks , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30 June 1984; (p. 40)

— Review of The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
Stow Brings Evil Back into Fashion Geoffrey Dutton , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 31 July vol. 105 no. 5427 1984; (p. 59-60)

— Review of The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
The Ultimate Thief - Death Robert Macklin , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 28-29 July 1984; (p. 14)

— Review of The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel Randolph Stow , 1984 single work novel
Vanishing Wunderkind Anthony J. Hassall , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 314 2009; (p. 29-31)
The Australian Horror Novel Since 1950 James Doig , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 112-127)
According to James Doig the horror genre 'was overlooked by the popular circulating libraries in Australia.' In this chapter he observes that this 'marginalization of horror reflects both the trepidation felt by the conservative library system towards 'penny dreadfuls,' and the fact that horror had limited popular appeal with the British (and Australian) reading public.' Doig concludes that there is 'no Australian author of horror novels with the same commercial cachet' as authors of fantasy or science fiction. He proposes that if Australian horror fiction wants to compete successfully 'in the long-term it needs to develop a flourishing and vibrant small press contingent prepared to nurture new talent' like the USA and UK small presses.' (Editor's foreword xii)
Grievous Music : Randolph Stow's Middle Ages Melanie Duckworth , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October - November vol. 26 no. 3-4 2011; (p. 102-114)
Swamp to Supermarket : Suburbia in Recent Western Australian Fiction Margot Luke , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , December vol. 35 no. 4 1990; (p. 93-97)
Randolph Stow Candida Baker (interviewer), 1989 single work biography interview
— Appears in: Yacker 3 : Australian Writers Talk About Their Work 1989; (p. 284-300)
Last amended 14 Feb 2019 16:27:03
Subjects:
  • c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
Settings:
  • c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
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