![]() ![]() “Dead Roses” appears in a collection of eleven short stories ominously called The Burnt Ones, first published in 1964 by a 51-year-old Patrick White. She is also just a little strange and introspective, a terrible thing in a country that seems to value mediocrity and shallowness above all else. “What to do about Anthea,” thinks sunburnt Vall Tulloch, who invites young Anthea to stay with her for Christmas on “The Island.” After all, Australia is a savagely casual place, and Anthea seems to think that such things as manners and beauty exist. ![]() She’s so sincere, neatly dressed, and idealistic that all the cool nouveau riche Australians feel sorry for her. “Dead Roses” tells of “regular Juno” Andrea Scudamore. Strange that nobody I knew had heard of the author. It undid every romantic idea I had about my people. It held a mirror to my face and told me I was disgusting. ![]() Only 65 pages long, the story pinched and gouged like a savage older sibling. “Dead Roses,” a short story by Australia’s only Nobel laureate for literature, Patrick White. ![]()
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