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'A entertaining example of the family history kind of novel. This particular family, descended from the historic Simon to begin with, has been enlivened about a hundred and fifty years ago by the irruption of a frivolous and enchanting French lady, Madeleine des. Baux. One of her grandsons, Henry, sails with his family to join a brother, Simon, who has taken up land near Port Phillip and becomes one of the makers of his colony. The marriages of his children and their cousins, and their inter-mixture with Spanish, Irish and Scots colonists, provide the matter of the book; and, since their characters are varied and whimsical, it is entrancing matter. Incidentally we get some vivid impressions of Australia before and after the gold rush. The early love story of Richard and Aida provides a passage of singular beauty; and when at the end of the book Raoul, who looks "like a cynical angel," sinks into the frank embrace of her daughter Madeleine, we feel that the French ancestress is still triumphant. This is a witty and picturesque book, with a keen sense of flavor in place and personality. ...'
Notes
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First published under the pseudonym Martin Mills - as The Madeleine Heritage in America in February 1928 and as The Montforts in England in April of that year. Revised and published under Boyd's own name in Adelaide in 1963. For an explanation of the genesis of the work see Brenda Niall's introduction to the 1986 ed. of The Montforts (Ringwood, Vic: Penguin)
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Letters from the James B. Pinker archives show that the working title for this novel was 'Great Grandmother Madeleine'. The Bobbs-Merrill imprint was printed by 8 February 1928 with reviews published in early March. The Times Literary Supplement of 19 April 1928 carries an advertisement for Constable books 'Published Today' that includes Mills' The Montforts.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille, sound recording.
Works about this Work
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"Australia Is Very American" : Australian Historical Fiction in America 1920s-1940s
2018
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Books and Authors in the American Marketplace : 1840s-1940s 2018; (p. 231-270)The previous chapter revealed how, in the early 1930s, Norton's publication of Henry Handel Richardson s Ultima Thule and the Fortunes of Richard Mahony trilogy brought Australia and its literature "deep into the consciousness of reading America' The impact of Richardson's novels was strengthened by the appearance of Katharine Susannah Prichard's Coonardoo in 1930 from the same publisher. Richardson's and Prichard's novels were in fact part of a longer sequence of ambitious Australian works published in the United States from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s. In contrast to the decline in the number of Australian novels published in America across the first three decades of the twentieth century, at the very end of the 1920s we begin to see a cluster of substantial novels appearing together - and being brought together by reviewers. Fiction publishing in general in the United States grew rapidly from a low point in 1919 to a peak in 1929; the number of titles dipped slightly through the Depression years but high levels continued until the early forties. Against this background, the pattern of publication and increased receptivity for Australian novels was sustained until the mid-forties, but with little continuity into the postwar years when many writers had, in effect, to begin again in establishing the viability of Australian work in the American marketplace. There is, then, a relatively discrete historical trajectory across the two decades from the late twenties, emerging from almost nothing and collapsing in the later forties as both cultural and industrial circumstances change.' (Introduction)
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Brenda Niall's Life of Archbishop Mannix Wins Australia's Oldest Literary Prize
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 6 July 2016; 'Among the first things Brenda Niall read about the novelist Martin Boyd, one of her early biographical subjects, was that in 1928 he had been the inaugural winner of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for his novel The Montforts. It was published under the pseudonym Martin Mills because Boyd had based the book on his mother's family. Winning the medal revealed his real identity. ...' -
A Literary Visit to the USA : A Memoir
2012
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 74-78) -
Transpacific or Transatlantic Traffic? Australian Books and American Publishers
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 339-359) 'This paper will attempt to describe the determining factors and structural patterns of relations between Australian books and American publishers from the 19th century to the present. Its central question will be: how did 'Australian books' find their way to American publishers? Can we discern any distinctive patterns over time or for particular genres, or simply an accumulation of one-off cases? To what extent, if at all, did the traffic in Australian books depend on cultural symmetries? Did Australian books travel as Australian or British books? In what ways were they dependent upon relations between Australian (or British) publishers or literary agents and their American counterparts? What role did international copyright regimes or trade agreements play? And how might the American connection change our understanding of 'Australian literature'?' (Author's abstract) -
The Outlook and Morals of an Ancient Greek
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 193 2008; (p. 55-59)
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The Montforts
1928
single work
review
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 8 September no. 22034 1928; (p. 25)
— Review of The Madeleine Heritage 1928 single work novel -
A Reader's Notebook
1929
single work
review
— Appears in: All About Books , 5 December vol. 1 no. 13 1929; (p. 405-406)
— Review of To Meet the Sun 1926 selected work poetry ; The Book of Beauty 1929 selected work poetry ; The Meeting-Pool : A Tale of Borneo 1929 selected work children's fiction ; A House Is Built 1929 single work novel ; The Madeleine Heritage 1928 single work novel ; Up the Country : A Tale of Early Australian Squattocracy 1928 single work novel ; The Man Hamilton 1928 single work novel ; A Diver Went Down 1929 single work novel Beginning with an ironic anecdote illustrating that an Australian novel are a 'safe' present because the receiver is sure not to have read it, Palmer goes on to recommend some titles. -
Untitled
1964
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 24 no. 1 1964; (p. 65-67)
— Review of The Letters of Rachel Henning 1952 selected work correspondence biography ; Five Senses : Selected Poems 1963 selected work poetry ; Poems 1957 selected work poetry ; The Madeleine Heritage 1928 single work novel ; Capricornia : A Novel 1938 single work novel ; The Young Desire It : A Novel 1937 single work novel -
Martin Mill's Writing
1928
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 10 October vol. 49 no. 2539 1928; (p. 5)
— Review of The Madeleine Heritage 1928 single work novel -
Untitled
1928
single work
review
— Appears in: Boston Transcript , 21 April 1928; (p. 3)
— Review of The Madeleine Heritage 1928 single work novel - y Australian Literature Society Medallists Sydney : Australasian Medical Publishing , 1935 Z1040561 1935 single work criticism Summary of an address given to the Australian English Association 25th September 1935.
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Vance Palmer on the Australian Novel
K. G.
(interviewer),
1930
single work
interview
— Appears in: All About Books , 19 April vol. 2 no. 4 1930; (p. 87-88) -
The Outlook and Morals of an Ancient Greek
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 193 2008; (p. 55-59) -
The Search for a Colonial Metropolis : Martin Boyd and the Myth of the Noble Settler
1992
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Populous Places : Australian Cities and Towns 1992; (p. 166-175) -
The Cultural Logic of Martin Boyd's Anti-Puritan Novels
2007-2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Zeitschrift fur Australienstudien , no. 21-22 2007-2008; (p. 46-56)
Awards
- 1928 winner ASAL Awards — ALS Gold Medal