Bird of Paradise by Jean Devanny

Book Description

Secondhand. Fair condition. Wear to book edges and corners. Foxing to top foredge. Previous owners have signed inside pages. Small tear to front endpage. Mark on back cover. No dust jacket. Book is in a non-adhesive protective cover.

Examines the national integrity of the Australian people during wartime.

Written in 1945, this book tracks the author's journey from North Queensland to Sydney, providing detailed descriptions of the people and places she encountered.

Includes stories of Torres Strait Islanders, and their interactions with Allied soldiers and profiles of people such as the composer Varney Monk, providing a snapshot of the Australian arts scene during the mid-1940s. Experiences include feeding crocodiles and cassowaries in North Queensland, as well as the lore of timbermen and cane farmers.

According to the Australian Women's Register, Jean Devanny (1894-1962) was a novelist and a prominent member of the Communist Party of Australia with a particular interest in the position of women in Australian culture and society. A contemporary of Katherine Susannah Prichard.