The Well-Dressed Explorer

Astley's third novel won the Miles Franklin Award, one of Australia's most prestigious literary prizes. Reading the book in the mid-'90s, it still stands up as a distinctively dry Australian classic. There is a lot of Patrick White in here, a lot of insight and cruel, witty statements about the book's characters. George Brewster is an involuted loser, and Astley takes us firmly through his romantic disasters. She was an assured writer back then (in the mid-'60s), just as she remains today. This is a good read for anyone interested in the anglo-Australian mind