Winged Seeds, the third volume of Katherine Susannah Prichard's Goldfields Trilogy, is a fitting finale to The Roaring Nineties (1946, see my review), and Golden Miles (1948, see my review). Contrary to my expectations after reading a rather discouraging introduction by Drusilla Modjeska in my 1984 Virago edition, Winged Seeds turned out to be my favourite. I think it still reads very well today.

To recap: This trilogy traces the development of the mining industry in WA, from the discovery of alluvial gold, the gold rushes and small scale mining to the capitalist era of international mining companies and how that impacted working conditions for the miners. In the course of these novels, Prichard's characters experience World Wars 1 & 2, with the Depression in between, and also the impact of the Russian Revolution and the political fallout of communism in Australia. The trilogy is a remarkable social history, this third volume written almost contemporaneously with the events it portrays.

Winged Seeds continues the story of Sally Gough and her family in Kalgoorlie WA. When the novel opens in about 1936, it is with the arrival of two jaunty young women, Pat and Pam Gaggin, fresh from England. Widely thought to be the daughters of the reviled Paddy Cavan who'd caused so much grief to Sally Gough and her family, they are actually only his stepdaughters, maintaining a façade of respect for him until they come into their majority and have their own money. They break through the antipathy of the Gough family through Sally's grandson Bill. They have a letter of introduction for him, from a comrade who's joined the International Brigades in Spain, fighting alongside Pam's fiancé Shawn Desmond. Though they like to have a good time, these girls are not the flibbertigibbets they appear to be.

When we're twenty-one we'll have control of our own money and we can do as we please. If daddy had the faintest suspicion we've learned to think for ourselves, he'd cut off our allowance.'
'I see'. Bill was still dubious.
'We can't be of much use at present,' Pat went on. 'But we want to do all we can to help Spain.'
'Crikey!' Bill began to laugh. 'It's the best joke I've heard for a long time. Who'd've thought it? Paddy Cavan's daughters —'
'We're no more his daughters than you're his son, Bill,' Pam reminded him. 'He married our mother, and then yours.'
'Eh?' Bill looked startled. "Gee, that's right,' he admitted after a moment's thought. 'But I don't call him daddy.'
'You didn't have to,' Pam replied.
'You weren't a pair of kids he took over with all of their mother's belongings,' Pat said gloomily. (p.68)

KSP's subtle comment on how marriage enables the appropriation of everything a woman has, should not go unnoticed.

Bill Gough is a very serious young man, committed to the communist cause with one essential difference. He recognises the united democracies of the world as the only way to counter the growth of fascism. But then as now complacency was a problem, and KSP shows him delivering a stirring speech to an almost empty hall. (If she were writing it today, she'd depict the missing audience at home watching Netflix.)

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/04/09/winged-seeds-by-katharine-susannah-prichard-... ( )