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'Randolph Stow (1935-2010) prefaced his novel To the Islands with this quotation [see epigraph below] drawn from the writings of his great great uncle. Coming from an island that is also a continent, where 'arguably, 'island-ness' was and still is at the core of the Australian worldview' (Davies and Neuenfeldt, 2004: 137), the notion of 'island', sometimes imaginary, sometimes having a geographical precision, is manifest in Stow's writings in many different ways. An aura of mystery pervades all of his novels, the sea is often present, and there are recurring themes of isolation and boundedness.' (Author's introduction)
Notes
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Epigraph: Still islands, islands, islands. After leaving Cape Bougainville we passed at least 500, of every shape, size, and appearance...Infinitely varied as these islands are - wild and picturesque, grand sometimes almost to sublimity - there is about them all an air of dreariness and gloom. No sign of life appears on their surface; scarcely even a sea bird hovers on their shores. They seem abandoned by Nature to complete and everlasting desolation.
-Jefferson Stow: Voyage of the Forlorn Hope, 1865.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
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- The Suburbs of Hell : A Novel 1984 single work novel
- To the Islands 1958 single work novel
- Tourmaline 1963 single work novel
- A Haunted Land 1956 single work novel
- Visitants 1979 single work novel
- The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea 1965 single work novel
- The Girl Green as Elderflower 1980 single work novel
- Outrider 1962 single work poetry
