What do you think?
Rate this book
Longleg
Tells the story of a boy's gradual initiation into the mysteries of adulthood and the meaning of his lonely past
- GenresNovels
339 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Glenda Adams
10 books8 followersGlenda Emilie Adams (née Felton; 30 December 1939 – 11 July 2007) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, probably best known as the winner of the 1987 Miles Franklin Award for Dancing on Coral. She was a teacher of creative writing, and helped develop writing programs.
Adams' work is found in her own books and short story collections, in numerous short story anthologies, and in journals and magazines.Her essays, stories and articles have been published in, among other magazines, Meanjin, The New York Times Book Review, Panorama, Quadrant, Southerly, Westerly, The Sydney Morning Herald, The (London) Observer and The Village Voice.
Adams' work is found in her own books and short story collections, in numerous short story anthologies, and in journals and magazines.Her essays, stories and articles have been published in, among other magazines, Meanjin, The New York Times Book Review, Panorama, Quadrant, Southerly, Westerly, The Sydney Morning Herald, The (London) Observer and The Village Voice.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 16, 2014
I nearly gave up on this book but persevered and am glad that I did. William Badger's flighty mother, Rose, announces that she's taking 10 year old William on holiday while Dadda, his much older father, looks after things at home. When they arrive at the boarding house in Manly, Rose promptly leaves. This experience leaves William with unanswered questions and, as he grows older, shape his view of the world in general, and women in particular.
This is a well written book and while it seemed somewhat slow at first, as the story progressed and I began to inhabit William's life and thoughts more and more, it became quite compelling. Not the greatest read ever but a uniquely Australian story and worth the effort.
This is a well written book and while it seemed somewhat slow at first, as the story progressed and I began to inhabit William's life and thoughts more and more, it became quite compelling. Not the greatest read ever but a uniquely Australian story and worth the effort.
August 7, 2025
An engaging novel about William Badger’s life from the age of ten. A lonely boy who experiences abandonment and isolation. He has two unusually distant, unloving parents.
William has quite an adventurous life, learning to be independent and hard working. He travels, has a number of different work experiences. Falls in and out of love, meeting a couple of very independent, feisty women.
Over the course of the novel, the likable William transforms himself from a nervous, clingy, neglected child, to a young man of character. A very satisfying read.
This book was shortlisted for the 1991 Miles Franklin Award.
William has quite an adventurous life, learning to be independent and hard working. He travels, has a number of different work experiences. Falls in and out of love, meeting a couple of very independent, feisty women.
Over the course of the novel, the likable William transforms himself from a nervous, clingy, neglected child, to a young man of character. A very satisfying read.
This book was shortlisted for the 1991 Miles Franklin Award.
November 25, 2018
I’m not sure if this works as a novel. I know, that’s a weird sentence. What I mean is it doesn’t really hang together and I can’t see much point to it. I found myself constantly wondering ‘Why?’. I must be missing something because it was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award in 1991.
Longleg is a story about a boy, who grows up to be a man. He’s abandoned for a while when he’s young, by his mother, and then when he grows up he has three women adopting him, in a way.
He’s constantly manoeuvred into place by the women in his life. Meg, rather than helping to set William free, manoeuvres him underground caving with her friends. He doesn’t fit in (socially or physically). Tillie manouvres him into her group of radical activists. Neither of them fit in, but only William realises it. Finally Amanda seems to offer him real love, until he realises that he doesn’t even fit in with her – she’ll never leave her husband.
Perhaps the meaning of his life is the lesson he passes on to the child on the plane at the end:
Perhaps also there’s meaning in the fact that he doesn’t find out his real name until the end of the novel. First he was William Badger (due to an errant father) then William Longleg (due to bad handwriting), and finally William Langley.
The thing that stayed with me from this novel was a poignant image from the young William’s life. Ten year old William is taken to Manly by his mother with promises of a “lovely summer holiday” but turns out to be abandonment at a boarding house. He waits for her. He learns the long, long poem she told him to learn for when she returns. He stands by the front gate, near the hedge, and he watches and he waits.
Maybe that’s how he let Meg get him down in the caves: they reminded him of the safe place that we all have when we’re young, whether our mother has abandoned us or not.
Longleg is a story about a boy, who grows up to be a man. He’s abandoned for a while when he’s young, by his mother, and then when he grows up he has three women adopting him, in a way.
He’s constantly manoeuvred into place by the women in his life. Meg, rather than helping to set William free, manoeuvres him underground caving with her friends. He doesn’t fit in (socially or physically). Tillie manouvres him into her group of radical activists. Neither of them fit in, but only William realises it. Finally Amanda seems to offer him real love, until he realises that he doesn’t even fit in with her – she’ll never leave her husband.
Perhaps the meaning of his life is the lesson he passes on to the child on the plane at the end:
No one can take your past away from you. It goes with you wherever you go. If you think about it, it’s a comforting thing, a blessing, not a burden. Your past is your treasure, your secret hoard, your own story. You can take it out and enjoy it whenever you want.
Perhaps also there’s meaning in the fact that he doesn’t find out his real name until the end of the novel. First he was William Badger (due to an errant father) then William Longleg (due to bad handwriting), and finally William Langley.
The thing that stayed with me from this novel was a poignant image from the young William’s life. Ten year old William is taken to Manly by his mother with promises of a “lovely summer holiday” but turns out to be abandonment at a boarding house. He waits for her. He learns the long, long poem she told him to learn for when she returns. He stands by the front gate, near the hedge, and he watches and he waits.
After a while he leaned sideways, against the privet hedge, which gave a little, and he found he could squeeze between the hedge and the wooden fence next to the gate. He could sit down on the earth at the base of the hedge … and watch for Rose Badger through the spaces in the fence …
By pressing back against the privet he was able to make the space rounder, cosier, more like a cave, the branches and leaves giving a little behind his back and coming forward around him at the sides …
Every morning William dressed in his school uniform and good socks and waited in his cubby hole at the front fence …
Maybe that’s how he let Meg get him down in the caves: they reminded him of the safe place that we all have when we’re young, whether our mother has abandoned us or not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
no
June 30, 2025got halfway through and was BORED and not being given any suggestion we would figure out the mystery of his mother so I gave up. sorry to this book. sorry to me that nothing is much helping my reading slump
March 18, 2014
Well, thankfully it got better. I struggled at first with this and honestly, although the story flowed more smoothly as it went along and I enjoyed it, I am still a little confused. This is the story of a boy with a seemingly crazy mother and how their relationship effects his encounters with women for the rest of his life. The book is separated into parts, the first and last parts deal with the boy and and his mother and the other parts are accounts of three different relationships the boy (now a man - William) has with different women, who all in one way or another are very much like the mother he desperately is trying to run away from and cling to at the same time. There is a mystery surrounding the mother that is eventually explained but not satisfactorily in my opinion which I found irritating, but then, maybe it is meant to be. There is a lot of humour here, the women in William's life and his desire to please and possess them is mostly a comedic venture, the author is skilled and always maintains some kind of sincerity so the writing never slips into farce, but it is quite funny. This mostly a very clever book and I can appreciate why it achieved so much acclaim. The characters are very well drawn and the story unique, but overall I found it all a bit frustrating. The story, particularly at the beginning is hard to follow, and it never flows particularly well - it feels disjointed, nothing is ever fully developed or explained - intentional I imagine but frustrating nonetheless. A good book, worth reading, but irritating!
July 20, 2012
Didn't finish it, which is quite rare for me. Started promisingly but became quite tiresome so I gave up.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews