Randolph Stow's The Girl as Green as Elderflower

Abstract

The Girl Green as Elderfiower (1980) is both a companion volume to Visitants (1979), and a long-meditated statement of the author's current vision, marking a period in his life. As The Merry-go-Round in the Sea (1965) was the fictional summation of his twenty-five years in Australia, so The Girl Green as Elderflower reflects the years in England which followed. The two books then are completed, complementary chapters in the spiritual autobiography of the author: The Merry-go-Round in the Sea celebrating Geraldton, and the death of childhood; The Girl Green as Elderfiower celebrating Suffolk, and rebirth into maturity.