Three of a Kind, by Barbara Jefferis #BookReview

Barbara Jefferis (1917-2004) was an Australian author.  She was married to the journalist John Hinde, a fact which is relevant to her profile because he established the $50,000 Barbara Jefferis Award in her memory, with prize criteria that were dear to her heart.  It’s an award that is made to the author of the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society.  Both he and she, I suspect, would have been disappointed by the remarks of this year’s chief judge, Sandra Yates, who was reported in the SMH as saying of the entries that a surprising number featured domestic violence, death or the subjugation of women and that the first three books [she] read from the longlist saw one woman burnt at the stake, one woman pushed off a cliff…