''Dearest Idol'' (1929) is a novel by Australian writer

Martin Boyd Martin à Beckett Boyd (10 June 1893 – 3 June 1972) was an Australian writer born into the à Beckett– Boyd family, a family synonymous with the establishment, the judiciary, publishing and literature, and the visual arts since the early 19t ...

. It was published under the author's pseudonym "Walter Beckett".

Story outline

The novel is set in Europe and follows the story of a 19-year-old boy named Tony Dawson (called "Boysie" by his by Aunt Matilda). Tony and Matilda have moved to London, and Tony has left school and gone to work in a well-known bank. While working there he meets Boris and the novel explores the friendship that develops between them.

Critical reception

In her PhD thesis titled "Deconstructing Martin Boyd : Homosocial Desire and the Transgressive Aesthetic", Jenny Blain notes in her introduction that "the novel's predominant focus son narcissism, egoism and homosexual possibility. Tony is a monster of vanity and self-love; he also has an infantile fixation on adulation and power."

Notes

Martin Boyd was not acknowledged as the author of this book until this was unearthed in 1977 by

Brenda Niall Dr Brenda Mary Niall (born 25 November 1930) is an Australian biographer, literary critic and journalist. She is particularly noted for her work on Australia's well-known Boyd family of artists and writers. Educated at Genazzano FCJ College, ...

of Monash University and Terence O'Neill of Melbourne University."Scholars find a lost Boyd novel", ''Monash Reporter'', 4 October 1977
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearest Idol Novels by Martin Boyd 1929 Australian novels Bobbs-Merrill Company books

Story outline

Critical reception

Notes

See also

References