Just Let Me Be
 First edition | |
| Author | Jon Cleary |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Wener Laurie |
Publication date | 1950 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
Just Let Me Be is a 1950 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was his third published full-length novel.[1][2]
Premise
[edit]Joe Brennan, an ex-serviceman, returns home to Coogee after World War II. He gets a job as a milkman and intends to make enough money to marry his girlfriend Connie.
He accidentally kills a man while defending local gangster Bill Pepper and is persuaded to hide the body.[3]
Reception
[edit]The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "The details are exact. The dialogue, slangy but not self-conscious, is convincing. On the other hand there are a number of characters who never emerge as more than routine and conventional figures."[4]
Awards
[edit]The novel won the 1950 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal.[5]
Republication
[edit]The novel was later republished in 1990 under the title You, the Jury.[6]
Knife in the Family 1957 TV Version
[edit]The novel was adapted for British TV in 1957 under the title Knife in the Family.[7]
It was the first acting job in England for Australian actor Rodney Howe who arrived in England seven months previously.[8]
The Liverpool Echo said "there was nothing to hold the interest of even the most tolerant viewer."[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "BOOK REVIEWS---". The News. Adelaide. 14 July 1950. p. 10. Retrieved 18 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Younger novelists merit more attention". The Argus. Melbourne. 18 November 1950. p. 10. Retrieved 18 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Violence Breaks Out At Coogee". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 6 March 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Violence Breaks Out At Coogee". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 295. New South Wales, Australia. 3 February 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 11 August 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature p129
- ^ "Boom under way in crime writing". The Canberra Times. 25 March 1990. p. 26. Retrieved 18 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "TV Guide". Evening Standard. 11 September 1957. p. 6.
- ^ "This time his packet will be safe". Nottingham Evening News. 11 September 1957. p. 8.
- ^ "Norman Cook's television news". Liverpool Echo. 12 September 1957. p. 10.
External links
[edit]- Serialisation of novel in The Australian Women's Weekly 26 May 1954: 65 Supplement Accessed 6 March 2012
- Just Let Me Be at AustLit (subscription required)
- You, the Jury at AustLit (subscription required)
- Knife in the Family at IMDb