The working title of the book was Wilderness. Timms evisioned from the beginning that the books would be part of a twelve volume saga. "I don't want this to be just a series of cheap little love stories in costume," he said. "I want it to tell, the historical and social progress of this country, the transition from the British way of life to the Australian way of life, the great efforts we have made."[3]
Premise
A woman escapes from Hobart Town to Fremantle.
Radio adaptations
It was adapted into a radio play in 1950 and 1952.[4]
The 1952 version was adapted by Kathleen Carroll and was broadcast in 60 minute episodes. Unlike the 1952 radio adaptation of Forever to Remain which had been done by the ABC, this version of Pathway to the Sun was done by a commercial organisation, Grace Gibson Productions.[7][8][9]
The Brisbane Truth thought the first episode "was not very encouraging" in part because actor Sheila Ewell "sounds too hysterical to live. Maybe in future episodes serial will improve but having knowledge of the book, this writer would say it will have to calm down a lot to produce the true interpretation of the characters as intended by Timms."[10]
The serial was well received and Grace Gibson Productions would adapt Timms' next novel, The Beckoning Shore.[11]
^"FRIDAY, June 9", ABC Weekly, 12 (22 (3 June 1950)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1692574959, retrieved 11 March 2024 – via Trove
^"Author to have 2 serials running". The Sun. No. 13, 193. New South Wales, Australia. 13 May 1952. p. 20 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 10 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Two E. V. Timms Novels for Radio", ABC Weekly, 14 (20 (17 May 1952)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1663808466, retrieved 10 March 2024 – via Trove
^"Stars In New Radio Play". Chronicle. Vol. 95, no. 5, 362. South Australia. 25 September 1952. p. 37. Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"HEAR HERE!". Truth. No. 2723. Queensland, Australia. 1 June 1952. p. 37. Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Australian novel to be dramatised as serial". The Sun. No. 13, 528. New South Wales, Australia. 19 June 1953. p. 12 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.