Cirrus@Austlit

James Aldridge was born in White Hills, Victoria. He worked briefly for several Melbourne newspapers before moving to England where he pursued a career in journalism. Aldridge worked as a war correspondent during the Second World War, but later left journalism to write novels full-time. Since moving to England, he has rarely visited Australia.

Aldridge published three novels during the 1940s and became well-known, and was often criticised, for the Marxist tone of his fiction. He has written many novels, but is best-known in Australia for My Brother Tom (1966) and other "St Helen" novels like A Sporting Proposition (1973 - also known as Ride a Wild Pony), The True Story of Lili Stubeck (1984) and The True Story of Spit McPhee (1986). For several of the books in this series Aldridge received prizes from the Children's Book Council and the New South Wales Premier's Awards. My Brother Tom and Ride a Wild Pony have been adapted for television and cinema, respectively. Aldridge is widely admired for his descriptions of rural Australia and his explorations of the social tensions experienced in country towns.