"Indecent Passion" by Colleen McCullough, summary

The novel reveals in detail the destructive nature of a sense of duty within an isolated military hospital. The concept for the work was shaped by the author’s many years of work in neurophysiological laboratories in Sydney and the UK, which allowed her to thoroughly study hospital practices, closed medical communities, and the peculiarities of human behavior during severe nervous breakdowns. The book was written in the wake of the resounding acclaim for the writer’s previous saga and was published in 1981.

In 1985, director Lex Marinos adapted the book into a full-length drama starring Wendy Hughes and Gary Sweet. The book did not win any prestigious literary awards. The text remains a standalone work and is not part of any author series.

The Sergeant’s Arrival

At the end of World War II, Sergeant Michael Wilson arrives on a remote tropical island. Camp life comes to a standstill. In a far corner of the camp, amidst dense thickets, stands a hastily constructed building called "X," constructed from scraps of wood. Soldiers suffering from various mental illnesses while away the final weeks of the war under a palm-tree roof. Military Base Fifteen is preparing to disband.

The ward is run by Captain Honor Langtry, a medical officer dressed in a gray field uniform and a starched headscarf. A nurse maintains a stern demeanor. A tin curtain made of beer caps makes a deafening, shrill rattle with every sudden gust of damp wind. Five former patients in the barracks suffer from severe psychosis. The newly arrived front-line soldier maintains an imperturbable demeanor, clutching an open envelope containing his meager staff records in his calloused fingers. A combat medal gleams against the faded fabric of his tunic.

Residents of the ward

Captain Neil Parkinson rises to greet his sister, straightening his faded officer’s jacket with three stars. For five months, the fair-haired Oxford graduate has been recovering from a protracted depression following the tragic deaths of nearly two dozen soldiers under his command in a senseless night battle. A blind Matt Sawyer stands frozen next to him. At the table, a thin Nugget Jones groans heavily, unsuccessfully searching for the symptoms of yet another fatal illness in a tattered medical reference book.

Benedict Maynard, immersed in a religious trance, winces at the creaking of floorboards, painfully reliving the shooting of a peaceful village.

A half-naked Lewis Daggett grins defiantly in a wicker chair. The former Sydney actor has been sent to the tropical psychosis ward for systematically extorting money from a trapped army commander. The handsome, insolent man despises his fellow soldiers.

Closed order

Michael Wilson quickly settles into the quiet routine of the infirmary. From early morning, the Hunter Valley native scrubs floors, carries buckets, fixes plumbing, and helps the orderly wash chipped dishes in the kitchen. The men expertly tuck in sheets. Snow-white mosquito nets over the armored beds are draped daily according to strict hospital regulations.

At midday, the barracks’ inhabitants go swimming on a deserted strip of ocean shore beyond the mangroves. The lagoon water is scalding. Far from prying eyes, the soldiers swim for long periods near the coral reef, washing away the ingrained camp dirt and sticky sweat. Blind Matt is led by the arm by Captain Parkinson. At the evening table, Honor pours tea into tin mugs, maintaining a semblance of family peace among the war-weary veterans.

Weaving intrigues

Lewis Daggett envies his comrades’ affection for the new recruit. Sneaking into the duty nurse’s office, the gossip surreptitiously opens Sergeant Wilson’s medical file, complete with detailed notes from front-line doctors. The documents bear traces of a fight. The sergeant was saved from a disgraceful court-martial by a referral to army neurologists after a violent altercation with a fellow soldier in a rear camp. Rumors tarnish the veteran’s reputation.

A wicked man, consumed by malice, attempts to seduce Nurse Langtry herself in a locked office. Honor drives the blackmailer away with cold contempt. Wounded pride drives the spurned Sydney hunk to plot brutal retribution against the head nurse and the entire close-knit ward. Benedict bursts into tears. With a vicious, poisonous whisper, the libertine methodically poisons the soul of the religious soldier, mercilessly reminding him of the executed children and denigrating Wilson’s impeccable name.

Night Crisis

A torrential monsoon downpour turns the dry camp ground into impassable mud. Wanting to appease his subordinate and cover up his lapses in service, Colonel Donaldson gives Captain Parkinson two hidden bottles of strong Scotch whiskey. The soldiers indulge in a drinking binge. Nugget Jones lies motionless on his cot, overcome by a migraine.

Around midnight, Wilson goes to the shower. A drunken Daggett suddenly emerges from the darkness of the washroom, having shed his clothes in response to a vile provocation from his fellow soldier. Michael goes on the defensive. Fearing to unleash his dormant murderous lust, the veteran, with great difficulty, restrains his iron fists from delivering a fatal blow to the mocker’s jaw.

The arrival of the duty nurse interrupts the nighttime skirmish. Behind the stern woman, the staggering shadows of a drunken Captain Parkinson and a gloomy Maynard immediately appear. The captain orders the instigator to leave. Fearing a resumption of the fight, Honor takes the shocked Wilson to the private bedroom of the medical staff quarters.

Violated prohibition

The nurse lays the soldier on the bed. Long years of harsh military hardship and the hopeless loneliness of the camp suddenly give way to a blazing, mutual tenderness. Michael gently touches the hem of the cotton robe. The woman, relieved, gives in to the surging passion in the darkness of the stuffy room, forgetting strict army regulations and her own duty. Oblivion lasts until dawn.

In the morning, Honor hurries to the barracks to brew strong tea for the men in his care. Daggett’s mutilated body lies lifeless on the damp cement floor of the shower room, a deep gash across his ripped abdomen. The dead man’s fingers clutch a razor. Coolly locking the heavy padlock on the wooden door, the pale nurse immediately hurries to the senior army officers.

Official verdict

Colonel Donaldson breathes heavily outside the morgue door. The Army pathologist quickly examines the deep cuts on the deceased’s body and declares the incident a typical suicide. Wilson has a solid alibi. Captain Parkinson takes full responsibility for the sergeant’s overnight isolation in the officers’ quarters.

The arriving military investigator hastily draws up a standard report on the private’s non-violent death due to mental insanity. The case is closed without publicity. The news of the death of a hated comrade is met with profound and icy indifference in the ward. Benedict rocks back and forth on his stool.

Confession on the Shallows

Michael takes Honor to the sandbank. Sitting on a rusty gas can, the veteran reveals the terrible secret behind the actor’s tragic death. Daggett was stabbed to death by a stranger. An insulted Benedict Maynard led the assailant at gunpoint into the darkness of the laundry room and forced him to slit his arteries with his own finger. His comrades quickly washed away the blood. Parkinson and Nugget helped the distraught soldier burn his soiled pajamas and masterfully staged a nighttime scene for the military interrogation.

The sergeant considers himself the main culprit behind what happened. A crushing sense of guilt over a moment of weakness in the nurse’s bedroom forces him to abandon their mutual love and take the ailing Maynard to his dairy farm. Benedict won’t survive alone. Captain Parkinson takes on the life support of the blind Matt’s family and funds Nugget’s medical education.

Empty department

The evacuation of Base Fifteen takes place to the deafening roar of army engines. Captain Parkinson comes in to say goodbye. In Melbourne, the officer will take over his father’s industrial enterprises and return to a respectable social life. The nobleman declares his devotion to Honor. Alone with the cleaned bunks, the woman hides a pack of pencil portraits in a suitcase.

Asylum in Morissette

After demobilization, Honor stayed at his parents’ estate near Iaç. His mother noticed a breakdown. Against family wishes, the woman took a job as a simple nurse at the Morisset Asylum for the Mentally Ill.

Exhaustive twelve-hour shifts fill the dreary hospital routine. A year and a half later, Sally Dawkin, a friend from the front, arrives at the clinic, having placed her senile father, now out of his mind, in a hospital bed. Her visitor brings bitter news: blind Matt Sawyer has died in the city ward of an advanced brain tumor.

The arable land near Maitland became a mass grave for Michael Wilson. A neighboring farmer started a furious fight over chickens killed by a dog, provoking a new attack of murderous rage in the unfortunate Benedict. The law threatened the gallows. Saving his comrade from hard labor, Wilson gave the madman a lethal dose of sleeping powder and cold-bloodedly shot himself in the temple.

Honor stares long and motionless as his old friend’s car recedes across the gravel. Dreams of a trip to see Parkinson’s have vanished. The yellow windows of the crowded women’s wards of the old nursing home glow welcomingly in the darkness. The senior nurse hurries off to her shift.