AustLit

'Crime fiction, in its various forms, has produced many remarkable and memorable characters. But beyond the interest we might take in the individual destinies of the protagonists crime novels arouse in us a more fundamental and deep-seated desire: the yearning for order to be reestablished following the scandalous transgression of society’s laws and conventions. Dysfunction and rupture, and the quest for their repair, are thus defining features of the crime genre. In Peter Temple’s 2005 novel The Broken Shore, however, disorder and disruption extend to every facet of society, and are even reflected in the prose itself. By examining the omnipresence of rupture in the novel, this essay seeks to provide a greater appreciation both of Peter Temple’s vision of Australian society and of the originality of his approach to the conventions of crime fiction.' (Publication abstract)

'The latest Friends’ publication emanating from the Baudin voyage is French Designs on Colonial New South Wales.

'It contains the first ever English translation of François Péron’s detailed secret report to Napoleon about the potential to invade New South Wales and make the British colony a French possession in the Pacific.

'Professor Jean Fornasiero and Associate Professor John West-Sooby of The University of Adelaide have made a superb translation of Péron’s notes. This is supported by an introduction setting the historical context and detailing the complex bibliographic history of the text.' (Publication summary)