In Certain Circles

"Harrower’s prose is watchful, witty, unillusioned, exultant. Its healthful vitality – vivid, accurate, alive to irony – is a dashing stand against its subject matter: human perversity, so often squalid, senseless, swallowing all meaning. The reader marvels at its balance, its sinuousness, as each fresh wave hits….There is a note of elegy in all of Harrower’s work, even as the adrenaline flows, and a lyricism reminiscent of F.Scott Fitzgerald at his desperate best."—Times Literary Supplement

"Like a treasure from an unearthed time capsule."—The Wall Street Journal

"I can't recommend this brilliant, austere writer strongly enough . . . Harrower is funny and elegant and devastating."—James Wood,The New Yorker

"Subtle yet wounding, and very much alive."—The Guardian

"Harrower evokes the waste and futility of a decadent class with all the bite and poignancy of F. Scott Fitzgerald."—Eimear McBride,New Statesman

"Harrower can pierce your heart."—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

Zoe Howard is seventeen when her brother, Russell, introduces her to Stephen Quayle. Aloof and harsh, Stephen is unlike anyone she has ever met. His sister, Anna, is shy and thoughtful. Zoe and Russell, Stephen and Anna: they come from different social worlds but the four of them will spend their lives moving in and out of each other's shadow. Set amid the lush gardens and grand stone houses of Sydney Harbour,In Certain Circles is an intense psychological drama about family and love, tyranny and freedom.

Elizabeth Harrower published only four novels in her short but brilliant career. This fifth novel was completed in 1971, but withdrawn from publication at the last minute. The manuscript languished in the National Library of Australia archives for forty years before Michael Heyward of Text Publishing was allowed to read it. He knew immediately that it must be published.In Certain Circles has been lauded internationally, and its publication coincides with a massive resurgence of interest in Harrower's work.

ELIZABETH HARROWER was born in Sydney in 1928. She lived in Newcastle until her family moved back to Sydney when she was eleven.
In 1951 Harrower travelled to London and began to write. Her first novel, DOWN IN THE CITY, was published there in 1957 and was followed by THE LONG PROSPECT a year later. In 1959 she returned to Sydney, where she worked in radio and then in publishing. Her third novel, THE CATHERINE WHEEL, appeared in 1960.
Harrower published THE WATCH TOWER in 1966. Four years later she finished a new novel, IN CERTAIN CIRCLES, but withdrew it from publication at the last moment, in 1971. It remained unpublished until 2014.
IN CERTAIN CIRCLES is Harrower’s final completed novel, though in the 1970s and 1980s she continued to write short fiction. She is one of the most important postwar Australian writers - admired by many of her contemporaries, including Patrick White and Christina Stead. Her novels are now being acclaimed by a new generation of readers and writers.
Elizabeth Harrower lives in Sydney.