The Novel
The novel is a fictionalised version of the life of Melbourne businessman and Australian Labor Party power-broker, John Wren. It is set in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Carringbush, which is based on the actual suburbs of Abbotsford and Collingwood. In the novel, West is involved in criminal activities related to gambling and political machinations.
The book also included characters based on other important Victorian and Australian political figures, including:
- Victorian Premier Sir Thomas Bent;
- Prime Minister James Scullin;
- Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Daniel Mannix (the character "Archbishop Malone");
- Police commissioner Thomas O'Callaghan;
- Detective David O'Donnell;
- Socialist ALP politician and one-time deputy leader Frank Anstey (the character "Frank Ashton");
- Ex-politician and notorious lawyer David Gaunson (the character "Davey Garside");
- Returned soldier and racing official Gilbert Dyett (the character "Godfrey Dwyer");
- Boxer Les Darcy;
- Gangster Squizzy Taylor (the character "Snoopy Tanner"); and
- Queensland Premier and then federal Treasurer Ted Theodore.
A fuller list of characters and locations is provided in the following section "Who's Who in the Novel".
The barely disguised motivation for the "West" character is made clear by the fact that West, like Wren, also has a brother called "Arthur" who spent time in jail for aiding and abetting a crime of rape. (Wren's other brother, Joseph, also appears in the novel.) Wren's wife Ellen Mahon appears as "Nellie", and there is space in the novel given to three of his children - his violinist daughter Margaret, his son John Jr., and another daughter who became a Communist bore similarities with Wren's radical daughter Mary who was an active member of the communist front organisation the Movement Against War and Fascism.
The novel is set during World War I, and the debate about conscription is a major issue in the novel. John West is a fierce patriot who supports conscription, and his sometimes fiery debates with the Irish-Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, who opposes conscription on the grounds that to send men to aid England was against his, and Ireland's, historical enmity with that country.
Read more about this topic: Power Without Glory
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