ROMANCES OF EARLY AUSTRALIA

New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 728, 26 June 1953, Page 18

ROMANCES OF EARLY AUSTRALIA

novelist. E. V. Timms decided to write 12 novels covering Australian history from 1930 to World War II. Four have ‘ ER the war the Australian already been published, and Timms hopes to complete his huge literary task by 1960. The second of the novels, The Pathway of the Sun, has been adapted for radio by Kathleen Carroll, of Grace Gibson Radio Productions, Sydney, and is at present being heard in serial form from the four ZB stations. The Pathway of the Sun is the story of a beautiful convict woman, Ginny Lockey, who escapes from _ prison at Hobart and seeks the aid of an old acquaintance, Simon Lee Challinor, in finding her son, whom she has not seen since he was ‘a baby. Challinor’s wife Penelope suspects Ginny’s relationships with her husband, quarrels with him, and they are not reunited till a near tragedy threatens to part them for good. Meanwhile, the arrival in Fremantle of a guard from Hobart prison threatens Ginny’s safety, and lays Simon open to the charge of aiding an escaped prisoner. The story of Ginny’s influence on the little community of free settlers at Fremantle, of her search for her son, and of her final attainment of freedom and happiness, is told with a dramatic intensity which has made The Pathway of the Sun a popular novel in Australia and makes for an exciting radio show. The director of The Pathway of the Sun is Lawrence H. Cecil, who directed

such popular serials as Dossier on Dumetrius, Night Beat, and _ Dinner at Antoines, Ginny Lockey. is played by the top-line Sydney actress Sheila Sewell, Simon Lee Challinor by Leonard Thiele. and Penelope Challinor by Lynne Murphy. The serial is being heard from all ZB stations on Wednesdays and Fridays at 2.0 p.m. A second serial based on an Australian novel is scheduled to start from 1ZB at 10.15 am. on Tuesday, June 30. It is entitled Moira of Green Hills, and is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Will Lawson and Tom Hickey. The story is that of Moira Clancy, an Irish colleen who ar-: tives in Australia in an immigrant ship in the 1880’s. Moira takes a housekeeping position with Tom Connors, a widower with five children, and eventually becomes attached to all six. But between times there is plenty of trouble, from _ insistent

suitors, critical neighbours and from revenue agents. The latter are led by one of the aforementioned suitors, but they fail to catch Connors at his slygrogging activities due to a timely warning- from Pokey Joe, a colourful local character who is indebted to Moira. In the radio serial, the story is told by Moira as a series of flashbacks from

the serene. vantage point of old age. It includes much_ authentic historical material and local colour, including an outline of life on a sailing ship in the early days, the rivalry between coastal steamers, the famous Maitland Fair, and, of course, the sly-grogging inseparable from a "dry" country.