tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
‘Now that your father’s gone - ‘
Laura and Clare Vaizey are at boarding school when their father dies, and the lives they had anticipated for themselves (especially Laura) are changed forever. Their mother removes Laura from school and sends her to business school to learn shorthand and typing. Laura, no longer able to dream of pursuing a career in medicine, becomes responsible for her sister Clare. Mrs Vaizey decides to return to England and, on the last ship bound for England as World War II breaks out, abandons her daughters.
Laura finds work in a factory, where the owner Felix Shaw pays attention to her. Although Laura is unsure about Felix, she agrees to marry him, partly (at least) to prevent Clare having to leave school.
‘I think you’d better just marry me, and both of you come to live in the new house. I’ll fix everything.’
Felix’s way of fixing everything is through controlling Laura. He belittles her, he manipulates her, and he crushes her. In the claustrophobic environment that Felix controls, neither of the sisters can relax. And over time, Laura begins to reflect Felix’s values.
‘She had achieved this state with much painless suffering, committing murder by proxy.’
Although Clare sees Felix for what he is, she cannot persuade Laura to leave him. Laura has almost entirely lost any sense of herself as an independent person. Can Laura be saved? Or will Clare have to abandon her in order to save herself?
For me, two tragic themes are central to this novel. The first is the warping of Laura’s spirit as, oppressed by Felix, she becomes more like him. Gone is the clever independent girl who dreamed of being a doctor, replaced by a fearful woman reflecting Felix’s views in order to find an uneasy peace in her world. The second is the awfulness and power of manipulation, where people seek (whether physically or psychologically) to impose their wills on others. Laura has been doubly unfortunate: a narcissistic self-serving mother, and an insecure controlling husband.
This is a thought-provoking novel. It is uncomfortable and confronting, raising questions about choices, and imbued with an undercurrent of malicious destruction. I am uneasy with aspects of the story, they reflect a reality I have observed.
This novel was first published in 1966, and was reissued in 2012. The setting may seem dated, the issues raised are not.
‘It is a wonder of the world to notice how fundamentally people change from one second to the next when they are given their own way.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Laura and Clare Vaizey are at boarding school when their father dies, and the lives they had anticipated for themselves (especially Laura) are changed forever. Their mother removes Laura from school and sends her to business school to learn shorthand and typing. Laura, no longer able to dream of pursuing a career in medicine, becomes responsible for her sister Clare. Mrs Vaizey decides to return to England and, on the last ship bound for England as World War II breaks out, abandons her daughters.
Laura finds work in a factory, where the owner Felix Shaw pays attention to her. Although Laura is unsure about Felix, she agrees to marry him, partly (at least) to prevent Clare having to leave school.
‘I think you’d better just marry me, and both of you come to live in the new house. I’ll fix everything.’
Felix’s way of fixing everything is through controlling Laura. He belittles her, he manipulates her, and he crushes her. In the claustrophobic environment that Felix controls, neither of the sisters can relax. And over time, Laura begins to reflect Felix’s values.
‘She had achieved this state with much painless suffering, committing murder by proxy.’
Although Clare sees Felix for what he is, she cannot persuade Laura to leave him. Laura has almost entirely lost any sense of herself as an independent person. Can Laura be saved? Or will Clare have to abandon her in order to save herself?
For me, two tragic themes are central to this novel. The first is the warping of Laura’s spirit as, oppressed by Felix, she becomes more like him. Gone is the clever independent girl who dreamed of being a doctor, replaced by a fearful woman reflecting Felix’s views in order to find an uneasy peace in her world. The second is the awfulness and power of manipulation, where people seek (whether physically or psychologically) to impose their wills on others. Laura has been doubly unfortunate: a narcissistic self-serving mother, and an insecure controlling husband.
This is a thought-provoking novel. It is uncomfortable and confronting, raising questions about choices, and imbued with an undercurrent of malicious destruction. I am uneasy with aspects of the story, they reflect a reality I have observed.
This novel was first published in 1966, and was reissued in 2012. The setting may seem dated, the issues raised are not.
‘It is a wonder of the world to notice how fundamentally people change from one second to the next when they are given their own way.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
snicksnacks's review against another edition
4.0
Immensely enjoyed the dark characterisation of the protagonists although the balance between showing and telling was a little off. There seemed to be descents into vagaries or unsubtle hitting one over the head with meaning on and off.
apries's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
hcube3's review against another edition
4.0
pretty much ruined my life for the week and a half i spent reading it. I'm normally a super optimistic person who believes there's a little good in everyone, this book takes one of those characters and puts her in a marriage with a sociopath.
captainfez's review against another edition
3.0
This isn't really a book I can say I enjoyed. It's masterfully written, yes, and lives up to the forgotten treasure billing Harrower's works have been given - but Jesus, it's a difficult thing to get through.
Set in '40s Sydney, it's a story of constriction. Two sisters are marooned by their couldn't-give-a-shit mother. An arranged marriage with an older man seals their fates, robbing them of educational opportunities and forcing them into servitude in the suburbs. Add in some on-again, off-again alcoholism and some domestic violence and misogyny and you've all the making of a Real Fun Time. Not.
Emptiness and inertia are key to the book. There's a distrust of the status quo, of commercialism and the drive to have a family and keep a home, as well as a lamentation of the lack of individualism which seems to pervade the culture of ration books and black marketeering. In the city by the harbour, everyone seems a cut-out. This excerpt just about covers it:
Harrower's work is simply, evocatively presented. There's a breezy lightness to the prose - its descriptions of nature and of the joy of the ferry are pretty much second-to-none. But the subject matter almost outweighs the author's light touch. The spectre of domestic violence, the robbery of vitality and the struggle to escape the control of an older man wring out the reader as they do the sisters of the pages.
I'm very glad I read this, though I'm uncertain I'd re-read it. It's a bit like some of Christos Tsiolkas' work - you know it's important, you know it's wonderfully constructed, but it's a bit like spending time voluntarily robbing yourself of air with a plastic bag: unremittingly brutal. Even when there's not actual violence on the page, The Watch Tower slips in a couple of jabs to ensure you're paying attention.
It's great Text Publishing are keeping this work in print, and it's made me want to seek out more of Harrower's work. It's just something - like the film The Boys - that is almost better as an idea than it is to consume.
Set in '40s Sydney, it's a story of constriction. Two sisters are marooned by their couldn't-give-a-shit mother. An arranged marriage with an older man seals their fates, robbing them of educational opportunities and forcing them into servitude in the suburbs. Add in some on-again, off-again alcoholism and some domestic violence and misogyny and you've all the making of a Real Fun Time. Not.
Emptiness and inertia are key to the book. There's a distrust of the status quo, of commercialism and the drive to have a family and keep a home, as well as a lamentation of the lack of individualism which seems to pervade the culture of ration books and black marketeering. In the city by the harbour, everyone seems a cut-out. This excerpt just about covers it:
They thought they knew what they were saying! They thought that what they said had meaning! Girls were bewitched by their own ability to curl their hair and embroider hideous daisies on hideous teacloths. Boys boasted because they could eat five potatoes with a roast dinner. Oh, accomplished! Oh, somnambulists! Silence, everyone!
Harrower's work is simply, evocatively presented. There's a breezy lightness to the prose - its descriptions of nature and of the joy of the ferry are pretty much second-to-none. But the subject matter almost outweighs the author's light touch. The spectre of domestic violence, the robbery of vitality and the struggle to escape the control of an older man wring out the reader as they do the sisters of the pages.
I'm very glad I read this, though I'm uncertain I'd re-read it. It's a bit like some of Christos Tsiolkas' work - you know it's important, you know it's wonderfully constructed, but it's a bit like spending time voluntarily robbing yourself of air with a plastic bag: unremittingly brutal. Even when there's not actual violence on the page, The Watch Tower slips in a couple of jabs to ensure you're paying attention.
It's great Text Publishing are keeping this work in print, and it's made me want to seek out more of Harrower's work. It's just something - like the film The Boys - that is almost better as an idea than it is to consume.
laura_storyteller's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tricky's review against another edition
5.0
Laura and Clare are sisters who when we first meet them are attending boarding school with their entire lives planned out before them. Laura is a brilliant student with designs on becoming a Doctor and Clare is beginning to find her way at school. The death of their father sees the world of the two girls turned upside down as their extravagant mother Stella Vaizey decides that the continued investment in their education is no longer warranted. Clare and Laura find themselves back in Sydney and slaves to Stella’s whims and needs. Stella continually regales about being financial difficulty but slowly it emerges that things may not be all that seem. For Laura, she is forced into caring for Clare and working as a secretary in a factory. It is here that Laura develops a ‘relationship’ with Felix Shaw.
In a final show of complete selfishness Stella decides to depart for England and abandon her daughters to their own fate. With the prospect of Clare having to give up school and with no place to live, Laura reluctantly agrees to marry Felix Shaw.
What develops from here is a story that masterly delivers a lesson in manipulation and control. It is subtle, it is overt and it is frightening how each person attempts to wrest power from the others. There are times when what is not said is far more evocative as you realise the extent of what is actually occurring. Harrower’s skills is that she does not ram the obvious what is happening down your throat, no she allows you to discover the menace that surrounds Laura, Clare and Felix.
It would be easy to categorise who is a victim and villain but to do that takes away from the layers that Harrower folds into each character. Laura who as a young woman is thrust into a marriage does everything in her own limited power to survive. You watch with horror and disgust as her Laura’s dreams are eroded away as Felix physically and mentally abuses her. You suspect that Felix is not that emotionally stable and there are suggestions that his preference for the company of men hides his true sexually yearnings. You also watch Laura as she manipulates Clare by using the fragility of Felix as she promises he will improve, that he cares as she begs Clare to remain. Again do not be fooled as Felix is the primary manipulator, his charisma, his rage and his control make him an extraordinary study of a man.
As you read you really do wonder if this cycle they are in will ever be broken.
Harrower’s The Watch Tower is one of those books that draws you back time and time again days and weeks after you finished the novel. You find yourself lingering on the themes, the undertones and the cruelty. It is a masterpiece in the study of relationships that have become warped and twisted.
In a final show of complete selfishness Stella decides to depart for England and abandon her daughters to their own fate. With the prospect of Clare having to give up school and with no place to live, Laura reluctantly agrees to marry Felix Shaw.
What develops from here is a story that masterly delivers a lesson in manipulation and control. It is subtle, it is overt and it is frightening how each person attempts to wrest power from the others. There are times when what is not said is far more evocative as you realise the extent of what is actually occurring. Harrower’s skills is that she does not ram the obvious what is happening down your throat, no she allows you to discover the menace that surrounds Laura, Clare and Felix.
It would be easy to categorise who is a victim and villain but to do that takes away from the layers that Harrower folds into each character. Laura who as a young woman is thrust into a marriage does everything in her own limited power to survive. You watch with horror and disgust as her Laura’s dreams are eroded away as Felix physically and mentally abuses her. You suspect that Felix is not that emotionally stable and there are suggestions that his preference for the company of men hides his true sexually yearnings. You also watch Laura as she manipulates Clare by using the fragility of Felix as she promises he will improve, that he cares as she begs Clare to remain. Again do not be fooled as Felix is the primary manipulator, his charisma, his rage and his control make him an extraordinary study of a man.
As you read you really do wonder if this cycle they are in will ever be broken.
Harrower’s The Watch Tower is one of those books that draws you back time and time again days and weeks after you finished the novel. You find yourself lingering on the themes, the undertones and the cruelty. It is a masterpiece in the study of relationships that have become warped and twisted.
clarissa80's review
4.0
A well written psychological read. Two sisters are put under constant mental abuse by the husband of one of them. He never gets physical with them but over the years completely destroys any sense of self-worth the women may have once had. The whole time you are reading it you are hoping for escape. It’s not a quick read because it wears you down and is pretty relentless. Sometimes I got confused as to who was narrating but other than that it’s well written. This is not a thriller, the pace is slow moving and takes places over several years but worth a read.
maree_k's review against another edition
5.0
Written in a time when the term 'domestic violence' didn't exist, and when what happened behind the closed doors of suburban Australian homes stayed there, The Watch Tower is a compelling, fraught exploration of a man's psychological and physical abuse of his young wife and her sister.
Harrower's The Watch Tower is not an easy book to read. There is such tension in the prose that at times I literally had to remind myself to breathe. One scene in particular stands out, where Felix, the husband, makes his much younger wife Laura and her younger sister Clare wait out in the car for him while he drinks in the pub. Then, when he gets in the car he berates and belittles them for about 15 minutes before driving home, drunk and manic, barely avoiding serious accidents. This scene is told from Clare's perspective, and exposes the wall of indifference she has built up to cope with the terror she must endure.
The novel's language is often understated, and the violence is never overt, which only gives it more power. At times the claustrophobic atmosphere created by the prose is almost too much to bear, and I found myself having to take it a paragraph at a time. This is a powerful book, not a pleasant read but one that grips the reader and doesn't let go. The prose is crisp and haunting as it describes the domestic violence cycle as it repeats and intensifies through the narrative.
The Watch Tower is the opposite of a holiday beach read, but it is a powerful novel with superb prose that brilliantly displays and dissects the true psychological horrors of domestic violence. A brilliant book.
Harrower's The Watch Tower is not an easy book to read. There is such tension in the prose that at times I literally had to remind myself to breathe. One scene in particular stands out, where Felix, the husband, makes his much younger wife Laura and her younger sister Clare wait out in the car for him while he drinks in the pub. Then, when he gets in the car he berates and belittles them for about 15 minutes before driving home, drunk and manic, barely avoiding serious accidents. This scene is told from Clare's perspective, and exposes the wall of indifference she has built up to cope with the terror she must endure.
The novel's language is often understated, and the violence is never overt, which only gives it more power. At times the claustrophobic atmosphere created by the prose is almost too much to bear, and I found myself having to take it a paragraph at a time. This is a powerful book, not a pleasant read but one that grips the reader and doesn't let go. The prose is crisp and haunting as it describes the domestic violence cycle as it repeats and intensifies through the narrative.
The Watch Tower is the opposite of a holiday beach read, but it is a powerful novel with superb prose that brilliantly displays and dissects the true psychological horrors of domestic violence. A brilliant book.