Kewpie Doll
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
A haunting work of Australian literary fiction, Kewpie Doll chronicles the coming-of-age of a young girl growing up in the working-class suburbs of Adelaide during the 1940s and 1950s, drawing heavily from Barbara Hanrahan's own autobiographical experience. With a lyrical yet unflinching prose style, the narrative uncovers the textures of a world shaped by poverty, female vulnerability, and the bittersweet innocence of childhood, rendered through vivid, dreamlike imagery that is distinctly Hanrahan's own. The story presents its protagonist navigating a landscape populated by eccentric, larger-than-life characters — neighbours, relatives, and strangers — whose lives intersect with hers in ways both tender and troubling. Hanrahan's tone balances nostalgia with a sharp, unsentimental eye, illustrating how the constraints of gender and class leave their marks on a young girl's sense of self and possibility. Celebrated as one of Australia's most distinctive literary voices, Hanrahan crafts a portrait of mid-century suburban life that is at once deeply personal and universally resonant.
Author: Barbara Hanrahan
Format: Paperback
Published: 1984, Chatto & Windus / The Hogarth Press
Genre: Modern fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
A haunting work of Australian literary fiction, Kewpie Doll chronicles the coming-of-age of a young girl growing up in the working-class suburbs of Adelaide during the 1940s and 1950s, drawing heavily from Barbara Hanrahan's own autobiographical experience. With a lyrical yet unflinching prose style, the narrative uncovers the textures of a world shaped by poverty, female vulnerability, and the bittersweet innocence of childhood, rendered through vivid, dreamlike imagery that is distinctly Hanrahan's own. The story presents its protagonist navigating a landscape populated by eccentric, larger-than-life characters — neighbours, relatives, and strangers — whose lives intersect with hers in ways both tender and troubling. Hanrahan's tone balances nostalgia with a sharp, unsentimental eye, illustrating how the constraints of gender and class leave their marks on a young girl's sense of self and possibility. Celebrated as one of Australia's most distinctive literary voices, Hanrahan crafts a portrait of mid-century suburban life that is at once deeply personal and universally resonant.