Upsurge is a novel by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n writer J. M. (John Mews) Harcourt

J. M. (John Mews) Harcourt

John Mews Harcourt , commonly known as J. M. Harcourt, was an Australian writer.-Life:Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Harcourt attended Wesley College before leaving home in 1916. He joined his father on the West Australian Goldfields and worked as an assistant surveyor in Kalgoorlie. In his 20s he...

. Set in Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, it was the first novel to be banned by the-then Commonwealth Book Censorship Board and the first to be prosecuted by police in Australia. University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales

The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 academic Richard Nile described Upsurge as "one of the most radical Australian books written during the interwar period". It was admired by Katharine Susannah Prichard

Katharine Susannah Prichard

Katharine Susannah Prichard was an Australian author and co-founding member of the Communist Party of Australia.-Biography:...

, who said it was the first Australian novel to be written in the socialist realism

Socialist realism

Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...

 style.

Plot summary

The book tells the stories of Theodora Luddon, a 20-year-old receptionist

Receptionist

A receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...

, Peter Groom, a member of the bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie

In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...

 who claims unemployment benefits, city magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

 James Riddle, working class man Colin Rumble who hangs himself after murdering his family, and Paul Kronen, the owner of a big drapery

Drapery

Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles . It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothing, formerly conducted by drapers.In art history, drapery refers to any cloth or...

 store. It is set in the 1930s, starts with Theodora fined two pounds by Riddle for indecent exposure

Indecent exposure

Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...

 at the beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 and ends with Peter sentenced to a month in jail

Jail

A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...

 with hard labour after a riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

 in the city. "For a country in Depression, the writing about life in relief camps and corrupt officials was considered potentially incendiary."

Banning

Three months after it was published, detectives removed copies of the novel from a Perth bookstore and asked that other copies be handed in to them. Sydney police also seized the book. In May 1934 police complained about the book to the Attorney-General's Department. All copies were removed from Perth bookstores and Harcourt left Perth following threats of prosecution. Federal authorities received complaints the novel was "Communist propaganda" and filled with obscene sexual content. The Trade and Customs Department released a report saying that the book was not without merit, but that it was grossly indecent. Upsurge was banned federally on November 20, 1934 on grounds of indecency.

Critical reaction

"The sort of stuff in Upsurge may have provided excitement of some sort to the author in the writing of it," The West Australian

The West Australian

The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...

reported. "It may provide excitement for some of his readers - those who carry prohibited Parisian picture-cards in their pocket wallets and scribble on walls."