Dearest Idol (1929) is a novel by Australian writer Martin Boyd. It was published under the author's pseudonym "Walter Beckett".[1]
 | |
| Author | Martin Boyd |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Bobbs-Merrill, Indiana, USA |
Publication date | 1929 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 284 pp |
| Preceded by | The Madeleine Heritage |
| Followed by | Scandal of Spring |
Story outline edit
The novel is set in Europe and follows the story of a 19-year-old boy named Tony Dawson (called "Boysie" by his by Aunt Matilda). Tony and Matilda have moved to London, and Tony has left school and gone to work in a well-known bank. While working there he meets Boris and the novel explores the friendship that develops between them.
Critical reception edit
In her PhD thesis titled "Deconstructing Martin Boyd : Homosocial Desire and the Transgressive Aesthetic",[2] Jenny Blain notes in her introduction that "the novel's predominant focus [is] on narcissism, egoism and homosexual possibility. Tony is a monster of vanity and self-love; he also has an infantile fixation on adulation and power."[3]
Notes edit
Martin Boyd was not acknowledged as the author of this book until this was unearthed in 1977 by Brenda Niall of Monash University and Terence O'Neill of Melbourne University.[4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Austlit - Dearest Idol by Martin Boyd
- ^ "Deconstructing Martin Boyd : Homosocial Desire and the Transgressive Aesthetic" by Jenny Blain, University of Sydney, Department of English, 1998
- ^ "Introduction : A wilful obliteration?" by Jenny Blain, University of Sydney, Department of English, 1998, p166
- ^ "Scholars find a lost Boyd novel", Monash Reporter, 4 October 1977