Denise Picton

This was a lovely read set in South Australia's mid-north near Clare, nearly 40 years ago.

Holly is 12, soon to be a teenager, living in an all-female household, with her great grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother. The four generations get on remarkably well, but life is about to change. Holly is changing herself into a young woman, but she doesn't realise that her household is about to change too. Her mother is being courted by two local men, one of whom is married. If she marries, Lucy will move out of the family home. What will happen to Holly then?

A dance marathon in Adelaide brings things to a head.… (més)

this is not my usual crime fiction.

What struck me about this novel was that it is set in Rostrevor, very close to where I live now, and in the 1960s when Dorcas was 12 and I was in my late teens. The Adelaide that is depicted was very similar to the one that I knew even though I was a country girl, and not Christadelphian. However in the 1960s I was very Church-connected and so Dorcas's religious world was familiar to me.

Dorcas's mother obviously had mental health problems, partly because she had left Scotland come to Australia at a young age, she was home-sick, but also because she had three such disparate children. Her husband worked long hours and she got little chance to get out of the home because she didn't, and she resented that. Her social life was confined mainly to Church on Sundays and church events. She had converted to being a Christadelphian and other church members were very critical of how she dressed and how she behaved. In addition, her older son had been sent away because of how he had behaved at a church camp, and because he wanted to have a worldly career. As well as that, he younger son had serious health problems.

Dorcas was on the tip of becoming a teenager, could put her foot in her mouth very easily and her mother seemed to blame her for all the misadventures that befell the family. In addition Dorcas saw herself as the cause of most of the family's problems.

There was a lot of empathy from the author, and I enjoyed the book a lot. There were some extremely well drawn characters, and it easily took me back into the 1960s.… (més)

“Every generation of women has to work out how to think and act in the world.”

The Knighton Women’s Compendium is a heartwarming novel about family, feminism and personal fulfilment from Australian author Denise Picton.

Told largely from the perspective of twelve year old Holly, The Knighton Women’s Compendium is set in Clare Valley, South Australia in 1982. Here, Holly lives in Wakefield Hall, a large, somewhat dilapidated country house with her ‘Greaty’ (Dorothy), her Gran (Flora), and her mother, Lucy. The arrangement generally suits the older three generations of widowed women, Flora earns just enough to allow them to keep body and soul together, and as Lucy is often ill with a condition that has yet to be diagnosed, Greaty and Gran help to take care of Holly. Holly dreams of becoming a famous dancer and befriending her idol, Olivia Newton John, so when she learns of a dance marathon to be held in Adelaide she persuades her family to let her enter. If Holly wins, the money will pay for the braces she needs, but her goal is to be noticed and become a star.

Rather unexpectedly, Holly’s entry into the marathon triggers change amongst her family which threatens to divide them. I really enjoyed the dynamics between the women, their love for one another is evident but they don’t always see eye to eye, leading to plenty of tension. As Holly focuses on winning the competition, Lucy, a romantic, is torn between two very different suitors; Flora, who loves a cause, begins organising a social justice campaign that could derail the marathon much to Holly’s horror; and Dorothy, the keeper of the The (Knighton) Women’s Annual, is worried she hasn’t done enough to ensure her kin’s happiness.

Several quirky supporting characters add charm to the narrative, including Holly’s best friend Barry, who has a unique way with words, and a postman who randomly gets attached to pieces of mail he is supposed to deliver. The Knighton women have their enemies too, namely a selfish, spurned suitor and a judgemental bigot, both of whom attempt to sabotage the marathon, as well as a cheeky ostentation of peacocks.

The Knighton Women’s Compendium is quite a busy story, not only is there quite a large cast, Picton touches on a number of social issues. I like the generational angle messages the author about being true to yourself and taking each day as it comes. I do think extracts of Greaty’s entries to the Annual may have enhanced the narrative.

With its warmth, wit and wisdom, The Knighton Women’s Compendium is an engaging read, with generational appeal.… (més)