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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'When her husband of three decades announces he has a younger lover and wants a divorce, Ella Ferguson realises how protected her life has been—she has ‘seen no evil, heard no evil and spoken no evil’. Alone, enraged, she must come to terms with her failed marriage and her relationships with her adult children. A Change in the Lighting, Amy Witting’s third novel, is the compelling story of a woman cast adrift.' (Synopsis)
Contents
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A Reckoning,
single work
criticism
'Brace yourself : Amy Witting throws her first punch hard, fast and almost immediatly.
At the moment which became history, Ella Ferguson was wearing nightgown, dressing gown and slippers...
Her husband, Professor Bernard Ferguson MB, FRCS, was knotting his tie. That was why she was watching him. For thirty-two years she had taken pleasure in watching him knot his tie, handling the rich, dark silk, sliding the tightening loop under his shirt collar, where it settled into a firm, precisley placed knot. He was still extremely handsome, having stiffened more in mind than in body, but that movement recreated for her the beautiful,earnest young man she had married. buying ties for him, which seemed such a sedate occupation, was for her what the young people called a turn-on.
And then, halfway down page two of A Change in the Lighting, Witting floors-unmoors- her main character entirely...'
(Introduction)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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A Reckoning
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: A Change in the Lighting 2017; (p. vii-xv)'Brace yourself : Amy Witting throws her first punch hard, fast and almost immediatly.
At the moment which became history, Ella Ferguson was wearing nightgown, dressing gown and slippers...
Her husband, Professor Bernard Ferguson MB, FRCS, was knotting his tie. That was why she was watching him. For thirty-two years she had taken pleasure in watching him knot his tie, handling the rich, dark silk, sliding the tightening loop under his shirt collar, where it settled into a firm, precisley placed knot. He was still extremely handsome, having stiffened more in mind than in body, but that movement recreated for her the beautiful,earnest young man she had married. buying ties for him, which seemed such a sedate occupation, was for her what the young people called a turn-on.
And then, halfway down page two of A Change in the Lighting, Witting floors-unmoors- her main character entirely...'
(Introduction)
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The Disempowerment of Women in the Domestic Sphere : The Fiction of Amy Witting (1918 – 2001)
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Crossroads : An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics , vol. 6 no. 2 2013; (p. 94-103)'This article examines ways in which the fiction of the acclaimed Australian writer Amy Witting, dubbed Australia’s Chekov and whom Helen Garner acknowledged as her ‘literary mother,’ interrogates the disempowerment of women in the domestic sphere, asserting that the home is a contested space and conflicted place for women. Witting subverts the notion that a ‘woman’s place is in the home’ by demonstrating that many
women are actually displaced and dispossessed in the inhibiting domestic spaces that are their ‘homes.’ In her fiction, women are isolated and excluded because of gender inequity
in regard to women’s rights and duties in the domestic sphere. Women are also marginalised in regard to inadequate financial rewards for domestic productivity and are affected by circumstances underpinned by discourses of poverty, class conflict and domestic violence. Witting asserts that the disempowerment of women in the home often leads to women appropriating masculinist attitudes and behaviours of oppression towards other women less powerful than themselves. In this article, these concepts are explored with close reference to five of Witting’s novels and interviews conducted with the author.' (Author's abstract)
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The Wolves Always Howl Once: Finding a New Self in Jessica Anderson's Taking Shelter, Amy Witting's A Change in the Lighting and Joan Dugdale's The Gripping Beast
1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Fantastic Self : Essays on the Subject of the Self 1999; (p. 219-226) -
Stories of Women Set Out to Liberate
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 10 no. 2 1996; (p. 150)
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel ; Adultery 1995 single work novel -
Peter Craven Looks at the Career of Amy Witting and Reviews Her Latest Book, "In and Out the Window"
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 174 1995; (p. 40-42)
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Emotions Made Visible
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , December vol. 6 no. 4 1994; (p. 9-10)
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel -
Caught in the Glare of a Marriage Breakdown
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30 April 10A 1994;
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel -
Starting a New Life after 30 Domestic Years
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 April - 1 May 1994; (p. rev 6)
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel -
Dimly Lit Lives Fail to Shine
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 10 May vol. 116 no. 5919 1994; (p. 96-97)
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel -
Chasms of Pain
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 7 May 1994; (p. 7)
— Review of A Change in the Lighting 1994 single work novel -
A Woman Not Made for Fame
1994
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 April-1 May 1994; (p. rev 6) -
Peter Craven Looks at the Career of Amy Witting and Reviews Her Latest Book, "In and Out the Window"
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 174 1995; (p. 40-42) -
Nurturers and Creators
1994
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Age , 7 May 1994; (p. 7) -
Its Really all About Writing
1994
single work
biography
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , March vol. 73 no. 1045 1994; (p. 14-16) -
The Wolves Always Howl Once: Finding a New Self in Jessica Anderson's Taking Shelter, Amy Witting's A Change in the Lighting and Joan Dugdale's The Gripping Beast
1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Fantastic Self : Essays on the Subject of the Self 1999; (p. 219-226)