Deadman's : An Australian Story | |
Author: | Mary Gaunt |
Country: | Australia |
Language: | English |
Genre: | Fiction |
Publisher: | Methuen, London |
Release Date: | 1898 |
Media Type: | |
Pages: | 304 pp |
Preceded By: | Kirkham's Find |
Followed By: | Mistress Betty Carew |
Deadman's : An Australian Story (1898) is a novel by Australian writer Mary Gaunt.[1]
Jocelyn Ruthven is the goldfields commissioner of "Deadman's Creek". Following dubious advice he enters into a disastrous marriage with a young woman but later meets the right one. The novel details the attempts by all parties to extricate themselves from unwanted relationships and enter into others.
A reviewer in The Evening News found a number of faults with the book: "Mary Gaunt is well known in the literary world as a clever Victorian authoress; but Deadman's does not quite sustain her reputation...The story lacks a certain amount of spirit in it. It deals with rough life in a rough country; with people at their best and at their worst; and, somehow, the style is too smooth for the subject. The situations strike you as forced, and you have an uncomfortable idea of knowing before-hand what is coming. The author has done better work, and can do better work."[2]