''Outbreak of Love'' (1957) 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 is the third in the author's "Langton Tetralogy" (which comprises ''

The Cardboard Crown ''The Cardboard Crown'' (1952) is a novel by Australian writer Martin Boyd. It is the first in the author's "Langton Tetralogy" (which comprises ''The Cardboard Crown'', ''A Difficult Young Man'', ''Outbreak of Love (novel), Outbreak of Love'' a ...

'', '' A Difficult Young Man'', ''Outbreak of Love'' and ''

When Blackbirds Sing ''When Blackbirds Sing'' (1962) is the last novel by Australian writer Martin Boyd. It is also the last in the author's "Langton Tetralogy" (which comprises ''The Cardboard Crown'', '' A Difficult Young Man'', ''Outbreak of Love'' and ''When Bla ...

'').

Story outline

The novel is concerned with the marriage of Diana and Wolfie von Flugel in the years leading up to World War I. After Diana damages a tooth on a hard piece of toast she travels to Melbourne to have it repaired. There, on Collins Street, she meets Russell Lockwood, a man from her childhood who has long admired her.

Critical reception

In her essay "Much Else in Boyd : The Relationship between Martin Boyd's Nonfiction Work and his Later Novels" in ''Southerly'' magazine in 1978, Susan McKernan notes that Boyd's novels "have been regarded as shrewd social commentaries, or witty novelettes rather than novels of argument. They appear to concentrate on the niceties and absurdities of social exchange rather than the more basic and universal problems of human life. Boyd's role has often been seen as that of the social chronicler, not the committed creative artist." In particular "''Outbreak of Love'' documents the increasing influence of the intellectual whose knowledge is based on a denial of the spiritual life and of those who enjoy power for its own sake. They are more widespread than the Cousin Hettys, Sarahs, and Bert Craigs of the earlier novels. Boyd provides us with a whole society dominated by the puritanical principles he despises."

Television adaptation

An television adaptation of this novel was released in Australia in 1981. It consisted of three one-hour episodes and was written by Howard Griffiths, directed by

Oscar Whitbread Oscar Ralph Whitbread (26 November 1929 – 16 May 2016) was an English-Australian producer who worked extensively in television. He moved to Australia in the late 1940s. Whitbread started his career at the ABC in 1956, where he served as the He ...

, and featured

Rowena Wallace Rowena Wallace (born 23 August 1947) is an English-born Australian stage and screen actress, most especially in the genre of television soap opera. She is best known for her Gold Logie-winning role as conniving Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton/M ...

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in the ...

and

Sigrid Thornton Sigrid Madeline Thornton (born 12 February 1959) is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes ''Prisoner'' (1979–80), ''All the Rivers Run'' (1983), ''SeaChange'' (1998–2019) and ''Wentworth'' (2016–2018). S ...

Notes

The novel was re-issued in 2013 as a part of the

Text Publishing Text Publishing is an independent Australian publisher of fiction and non-fiction, based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Company background Text Media was founded in Melbourne in 1990 by Diana Gribble and Eric Beecher, along wit ...

Text Classics series, with an introduction by

Chris Womersley Chris Womersley (born 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian author of crime fiction, short stories and poetry. He trained as a radio journalist and has travelled extensively to such places as India, South-East Asia, South America, Nort ...

.Text Classics - ''Outbreak of Love'' by Martin Boyd
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Outbreak of Love Novels by Martin Boyd 1957 novels Novels set in Melbourne

Story outline

Critical reception

Television adaptation

See also

Notes

References