In 1960s Australia, a Catholic priest starts an affair with a young student. Gifted student Maggie Reed attends a Catholic boarding school in Cumberland, a western suburb of Sydney. It's 1967 and Maggie is seventeen-years-old. She's won a scholarship to attend the school, which is just as well, because her drunkard father would prefer she give up studying altogether and find a job. Her mother, who puts up with a lot of spousal abuse, has too much on her plate to take care of her daughter. Home is a depressing place, full of fear and anger, and Maggie is happy to be boarding, a brief respite from so many troubles. Events take a sharp turn when local priest Father Nihill, handsome and charming, takes an interest in Maggie. She initially resists, but soon finds herself succumbing to a sexual relationship. It's one full of secrecy and deception. When Maggie becomes pregnant, her life is turned upside down as Father Nihill – Lloyd, as he has insisted she call him – tries to deal with the pregnancy in a very un-Catholic way. Maggie is Catherine Johns' debut novel. It reads as autobiographical and one wonders if it's based on personal experience, or that of a friend. Every page feels real and immediate. The novel provides an excellent overview of social mores in 1960s Australia - the position of women, the church and reproductive rights. The hypocrisy of the church's priests is jaw dropping. Sometimes evil. The treatment of Maggie as a problem to be hidden away, with no concern for her as a person, will make readers indignant at such injustice and misogyny, obviously the norm for the times. One minor caveat: for a story driven by so much drama, the writing can feel flat at times. Characters don't leap off the page and the plot structure feels pedestrian. Having said that, the book is still a page-turner and Maggie's journey is compelling in its twists and turns. A well rounded, disturbing portrait of the darker side of 1960s Australia. Maggie, by Catherine Johns. Published by Hachette Australia. $32.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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