''Return to Coolami'' (1936) is a novel by Australian author

Eleanor Dark Eleanor Dark AO (26 August 190111 September 1985) was an Australian writer whose novels included '' Prelude to Christopher'' (1934) and '' Return to Coolami'' (1936), both winners of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for literature, ...

. It won the

ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

for Best Novel in 1936.

Plot summary

The novel relates the story of Bret Maclean who has travelled to Sydney to bring his young wife, Susan, to his station home in central

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. On the two-day journey the young couple are accompanied by her parents, Tom and Millicent Drew. The novel is set during this journey and lays out the life story of each of the four travellers.

Reviews

A reviewer in ''The Courier-Mail'' stated: "The author has a delicacy of touch that such a situation requires, and her method of explaining the whole lives of the four travellers reminds one somewhat of

Dorothy Richardson Dorothy Miller Richardson (17 May 1873 – 17 June 1957) was a British author and journalist. Author of ''Pilgrimage'', a sequence of 13 semi-autobiographical novels published between 1915 and 1967—though Richardson saw them as chapters of o ...

's 'stream of consciousness' in the Miriam Henderson books, or of

Norah James Norah Margaret Ruth Cordner James (1896 – 19 November 1979) was a prolific English novelist whose first book ''Sleeveless Errand'' (1929) was ruled obscene at the Bow Street Police Court. Early life Norah James was born in Hampstead, London, ...

(in ''Jealousy''). But there is nothing of imitation in Eleanor Dark, she is superbly herself and most definitely an author to watch." A reviewer in ''The Truth'' found that the novel owed a little too much to cinematic technique: "The screen came into its own when it discovered its power thus to mingle the past and present; but in a story closer attention is demanded to follow the changes than the average reader will give."

Awards and nominations

* 1936 winner

"''Return to Coolami'' : Medal for Best Novel" ''The Argus'', 21 September 1937, p11
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return to Coolami 1936 Australian novels ALS Gold Medal winning works