‘Butcher Shop’ revived

Press, 16 January 1982, Page 13

‘Butcher Shop’ revived

The Butcher Shop. By Jean Devanny. Auckland University Press, 1981. 224 pp. Notes. $9.95 (paperback).

(Reviewed by

Margaret Quigley)

When this novel was first published 50 years ago it was banned in New Zealand with this stern pronouncement by the Board of Censorship: “The Board considers this a bad book all round — sordid, unwholesome and unclean. It makes evil to be good. We are of the opinion that it should be banned.” The author. Jean Devanny, at that time living in Wellington, said she was hurt, but not surprised at the barining. Born in 1894 she was the daughter of a South Island coalminer and had a fierce and life-long commitment to the causes of socialism and feminism. “The Butcher Shop," a polemic for the freedom of women, was years ahead of its time. Devanny's advocacy of equality for men and women, and her conviction that this

could be achieved through a socialist form of government, appeared “disgusting, indecent and communistic” to New Zealanders in the 19205. She admitted that her novel was “horrible, brutal, revolting,” but she felt it exposed the brutality, and irrational prejudices of the society in which she lived. And this is probably the main justification for the reprinting of this novel which is no literary masterpiece,

but which does give its own interpretation of life in this country, and which is a part of our literary and social history. Set on a large station in the King Country, it is a forceful and vivid account of how passion and jealousy destroy the calm lives of a wealthy, cultured and loving family. The vitality and sincerity of the writing are unmistakable; equally obvious are the literary faults, a lack of form in the novel, stereotyped characters, a tendency to .sensationalism, and perhaps worst of all, an undisciplined style. This style can produce such passages as. "On his countenance was expressed immeasurable love and reverence. Supreme benignity was theirs, and they walked through long drenched grasses which did not clog their footsteps towards a horizon which was a blaze of glory. All Virtue, all Hope, all Happiness was depicted there in some supernal way through the medium of colour.”

Yet the novel has life and interest. The problems of equality and freedom for women are still being discussed today, and it is fascinating to watch an author writing so passionately on ideas so new in her time. This reprint has an excellent introduction by Heather Roberts, who provides a brief biographical sketch of the author and a perceptive look at the plot, characterisation and ideas of “The Butcher Shop.”