Tirra Lirra by the River is a novel by Australian writer Jessica Anderson. First published in 1978 (though written some years before) it won the Miles Franklin Award for that year. It is included in Carmen Callil and Colm Tóibín's collection The Modern Library: The Best 200 Novels in English since 1950 (Picador 1999. ISBN 0-330-34182-0).
Contents
Plot synopsis
For Nora Porteous, life is a series of escapes. To escape her tightly knit small-town family, she marries, only to find herself confined again, this time in a stifling Sydney suburb with a selfish, sanctimonious husband. With a courage born of desperation and sustained by a spirited sense of humor, Nora travels to London, and it is there that she becomes the woman she wants to be. Or does she?
Quotes:
"Finely honed structurally and tightly textured, it's a wry, romantic story that should make Anderson's American reputation and create a demand for her other work." - The Washington Post
"There may be a better novel than Tirra Lirra by the River this year, but I doubt it." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Subtle, rich, and seductive, this beautifully written novels casts a spell of delight upon the reader." Library Journal
Cultural references
The book's title is taken from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Lady of Shalott". That particular line comes from part 3, stanza 4:
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
'Tirra lirra,' by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
Critical reception
Hope Hewitt in The Canberra Times commented: "The limited round of small-town life is vividly recalled in incidents dramatically presented against the colour, smell and taste of the Australian setting. So is the frustration of being a girl, short-of money, untrained for anything, destined only for marriage. Nora had a flair for creative design, which came out in her youth in embroidery of rich Australian designs, trees, fruit and birds...Even London emerges as seen through Australian eyes. Yet the book is universal in theme, local only in detail. Though short it is deceptively rich as threads weave together and the overtones of language and the significance of the time-shifts register in our minds. The restrained artistry of Jessica Anderson's construction is exceptional in any literature."
Attempted film adaption
Renowned Australian film producer Margaret Fink spent ten years in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring an adaption of the novel to the cinema screen, including a characteristically prescient decision to cast in the lead role the then-unknown Cate Blanchett who was only at the very beginnings of her stellar career.
Awards
Miles Franklin Award 1978, winner
FAW ANA Literature Award 1978, winner
Australian Book Review Fan Poll 2010, shortlisted