Cirrus@Austlit

'Jonathan Franzen writing in 2010 in The New York Times deplored the neglect of Christina Stead, and especially of her masterpiece, The Man Who Loved Children. He quoted a 1980 study of the 100 most-cited literary writers of the twentieth century, based on scholarly citations, which made no mention of Stead. He continued: ‘This would be less puzzling if Stead and her best novel didn’t positively cry out for academic criticism of every stripe. Especially confounding is that The Man Who Loved Children has failed to become a core text in every women’s studies program in the country’ (12). Franzen’s complaint is of course an old story, and what is true of this novel is true of her work as a whole. Her first two books, published originally in England, appeared with considerable acclaim there and in Australia. After thirty years of mixed reviews, she at last won accolades and prizes, but has not managed to hold a sure place in the Western canon, or with the common reader. Among writers, however, she has a vocal following, Franzen being the latest in a distiguished list. ' (Author's introduction)