Nathan Hobby’s comprehensive biography, The Red Witch, contextualises the life of Katherine Susannah Prichard (1883–1969) within the personal, political and figurative spheres of twentieth-century Australia. Hobby’s perceptive insights reveal the quality of research behind the unfolding of this linear post-script narrative. History nerds, biography addicts, and politically-curious bibliophiles will particularly appreciate the biographer’s meticulous approach.
Linking Prichard’s successes and tragedies with fiction and formative life events, Hobby paints an empathic portrait of a prolific writer, steeped in the multitude of contrasts inherent in her contradictory nature. Prichard’s undying dedications to literature, family and politics reverberate with the refined rebelliousness of her famous intellect.
Thoroughly engrossing and engrossingly thorough, this biography is equally accessible to academic and general readerships. Despite (or because of?) its impressive scope and density, The Red Witch is unputdownable; an exquisite literary journey.