In his autobiography
Flaws in the Glass: A Self-Portrait(1981), Patrick White (1912-1990) describes how, after having been involved in the war for some years, he was de-mobbed and found himself starving in a war-wasted London, an experience that in the end made him decide to return to Australia (127). He also reveals how the stay in London enabled him to start writing his third novel:
My creative self, frozen into silence by the war years, began to thaw. I bought a packet of foolscap in Victoria Street and settled down at the table in my Ebury Street bedsitter. I started writing the novel which became The Aunt’s Story. I can’t say it poured on to the paper after the years of drought; it was more like a foreign substance torn out by ugly handfuls. (Flaws p 127)
My creative self, frozen…
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Citation: Berg, Mari-Ann. "The Aunt's Story". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 July 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9980, accessed 22 November 2024.]
