So often I am startled by what we forget. Australian literature is a goldmine of works once deeply prized, still important for what they tell us, but lost to public knowledge for a variety of reasons. Time, of course (not everything relevant can be lasting); rapid changes in society (portrayals of the marginalised which seemed hard-hitting or controversial - or even sympathetic - can now often seem backward or unsettling); the move from literature to popular fiction that has left some styles behind; an education and cultural system which prioritises the new and a limited canon of old; and at least a little dab of that famed cultural cringe. It's fading, but it still lingers.

All of which is to say that The Battlers, while not a perfect novel, is compelling Australian fiction that must have been truly powerful in its day. Contrasting the lives of down-on-their-luck, itinerant Australian folk, Tennant weaves a tale of mateship, possible romance, hope, and humility. I remember this from a considerably romanticised adaptation by the ABC in the '90s with Gary Sweet and Jacqueline McKenzie. The book is rougher - aside from a few specks of mud on occasion, neither Gary nor Jacqueline ever look worn down by the road!

On literary merit, I'd give this 3 stars. But the weight of history, and its oft-neglected place in the canon, bump this up to a 4 for me. ( )