Archetypes of Partnership and the Goddess: the Human Spiritual Journey in David Malouf’s The Conversations at Curlow Creek,

This essay demonstrates the relevant connection between the main characters in David Malouf’s The Conversations at Curlow Creek and Carol Pearson’s twelve archetypes of questing hero/ine. The story thus reveals its intrinsic aspiration toward a different form of sacredness, more in tune with a ‘feminine’ divinity, open to sensual pleasure, joy and ecstasy. Malouf’s style also enhances this partnership configuration that “pushes [him] toward the archetypal” as he states in an interview.