AustLit
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Contents
- What the Mischief Does a Bonnet Want Here? : An Introduction to Mary Fortune (Waif Wander), single work criticism biography (p. xii-xxiii)
- The Fortunes of Mary Fortune : Preface, single work criticism biography (p. ix-xi)
- Arrival in Melbourne, single work autobiography (p. 3-22)
- Kangaroo Flat, single work autobiography (p. 23-49)
- Buninyong, single work autobiography (p. 51-78)
- Chinaman's Flat, single work autobiography (p. 79-102)
- Inkerman, single work autobiography (p. 103-124)
-
Fourteen Days on the Roads,
single work
prose
humour
satire
(p. 127-148)A lady's journey to Melbourne in a carrier's wagon - 10 days and 11 nights of discomfort. Descriptions of the drivers, the horse team, Benalla and the election of a shire councillor, and the approach to Melbourne are included. (PB)
-
Looking for Lodgings,
single work
prose
satire
(p. 149-166)Looking for board and residence on a broiling summer day in Melbourne introduces a 'respectable female' to a curious range of houses and landladies. Contains interesting references to The Australian Journal and on the character of colonial girls. (PB)
-
How I Spent Christmas,
single work
prose
(p. 167-188)Christmas in Melbourne: the Eastern Christmas Market; Sandridge and the 'home' ships; dinner at a 'Family hotel' - and an opinionated 'Young Australia'; the waxworks; and an invigorating walk to an enjoyable solitude. (PB)
-
Down Bourke Street,
single work
prose
(p. 189-210)Melbourne's Bourke Street amid the bustle of Saturday night - the shops, the crowds, Paddy's market, street cookery and street preachery. (PB)
-
Towzer and Co.,
single work
prose
humour
(p. 211-219)On the three dogs observed by the author. Animal character sketch. (PB)
-
The Spider and the Fly,
single work
short story
satire
(p. 221-230)On the fifty female applicants for a position of trust and the man who interviewed them at a Melbourne hotel. (PB)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Mary Helena Fortune : An Independent Fly in the Webs of Victorian Society
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Brno Studies in English , vol. 45 no. 1 2019; (p. 129-142)'Mary Helena Fortune (c. 1833–1909) was a pioneer Australian crime fiction writer. At a time when marriage and domesticity still largely defined women's lives, in her autobiographical journalism Fortune freely admitted to being selffinancing. She claimed that her tea tasted better when she remembered that she has "earned every penny of the money that bought it." It was unusual for a Victorian woman. And as her memoirs and journalistic prose testify, Fortune was anything but usual. The story of her life, her writing, her husbands, sons and lovers is extraordinary, and was potentially dangerous for Fortune, given the hypocritical morals of the time. Thus, being fully aware of the webs the Victorian society set for independent flies, Fortune wrote under a pseudonym of Waif Wander which sheltered her, and protected her income. Her memoirs, partly fictionalised, a common Victorian genre, reveal an extraordinary woman and extraordinary times in Australian history.' (Publication abstract)
-
Learning All the Tricks : Critiquing Crime Fiction in a Creative Writing PhD
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 37 2016; -
Mary Fortune
2004-2005
single work
biography
— Appears in: Mystery Readers Journal , Winter vol. 20 no. 4 2004-2005; (p. 11-12) -
Finding Fortunes
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Antithesis , vol. 4 no. 1 1990; (p. 176-178)
— Review of The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose -
Mary Strikes Gold
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , February no. 117 1990; (p. 92-94)
— Review of The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose
-
Solving Fortune's Mysteries
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , December vol. 1 no. 2 1989; (p. 29)
— Review of The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose -
Diverse Voices
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Social Alternatives , April vol. 9 no. 1 1990; (p. 58-60)
— Review of My Father's Moon 1989 single work novel ; The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose ; The New Diversity : Australian Fiction : 1970-88 1989 selected work criticism ; In the Winter Dark 1988 single work novel ; City to City 1989 selected work short story ; Flawless Jade 1989 single work novel ; Eight Voices of the Eighties : Stories, Journalism and Criticism by Australian Women Writers 1989 anthology criticism extract short story autobiography correspondence prose review interview -
Untitled
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 14 no. 4 1990; (p. 525-529)
— Review of Eight Voices of the Eighties : Stories, Journalism and Criticism by Australian Women Writers 1989 anthology criticism extract short story autobiography correspondence prose review interview ; A Woman's Friendship 1889 single work novel ; Colonial Voices : Letters, Diaries, Journalism and Other Accounts of Nineteenth-Century Australia 1989 anthology correspondence biography prose autobiography short story ; The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose ; The Poet's Discovery : Nineteenth Century Australia in Verse 1990 anthology poetry biography -
Southern Sleuths
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Editions , September no. 8-9 1990; (p. 6-7)
— Review of The Case of the Chinese Boxes 1993 single work novel ; The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose ; The Last Adventures of Christian Doom, Private I 1982 single work novel ; Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Sand on the Gumshoe : A Century of Australian Crime Writing 1989 anthology short story ; The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender 1988 single work novel -
Anonymous Crimes
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 115 1989; (p. 42)
— Review of The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose -
Mary Fortune
2004-2005
single work
biography
— Appears in: Mystery Readers Journal , Winter vol. 20 no. 4 2004-2005; (p. 11-12) -
The Fortunes of Mary Fortune : Preface
1989
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989; (p. ix-xi) -
The Waiting Game
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Notes & Furphies , April no. 24 1990; (p. 11-12) -
Learning All the Tricks : Critiquing Crime Fiction in a Creative Writing PhD
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 37 2016; -
Mary Helena Fortune : An Independent Fly in the Webs of Victorian Society
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Brno Studies in English , vol. 45 no. 1 2019; (p. 129-142)'Mary Helena Fortune (c. 1833–1909) was a pioneer Australian crime fiction writer. At a time when marriage and domesticity still largely defined women's lives, in her autobiographical journalism Fortune freely admitted to being selffinancing. She claimed that her tea tasted better when she remembered that she has "earned every penny of the money that bought it." It was unusual for a Victorian woman. And as her memoirs and journalistic prose testify, Fortune was anything but usual. The story of her life, her writing, her husbands, sons and lovers is extraordinary, and was potentially dangerous for Fortune, given the hypocritical morals of the time. Thus, being fully aware of the webs the Victorian society set for independent flies, Fortune wrote under a pseudonym of Waif Wander which sheltered her, and protected her income. Her memoirs, partly fictionalised, a common Victorian genre, reveal an extraordinary woman and extraordinary times in Australian history.' (Publication abstract)
