Earlier Novels Of Australia
The Pioneers. By Katherine Susannah Prichard. 255
The Montforts. By Martin Boyd. 253 pp. Companion volumes by Rigby of Adelaide.
Thirteen years separated the publication of these two novels, both were prizewinners in their day, and it seems that in each there is some little touch of greatness to make reprints worthwhile Both deal with the settlement
of Australia, but are about life on quite different social levels. “The Pioneers” has the now typical early Australian novel background of bush fires, convicts, scrubclearing and other hardships. “The Montforts” tells of a more stately, gracious way of colonial life, from gold-rush days onward
When “The Pioneers" was first published in 1915 it won the Australian section of the Dominion competition for fiction, while “The Montforts.” when it appeared in 1928. was the first novel to win the Australian Literary Society gold medal. In these novels can be seen something of the foundation of the “essentially Australian” novels of today and it is worth remembering just how long ago they were first published.
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Press, Volume CII, Issue 30146, 1 June 1963, Page 3
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175Earlier Novels Of Australia Press, Volume CII, Issue 30146, 1 June 1963, Page 3
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