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'Brian Penton, in his second novel Inheritors , depicts Brisbane of the late nineteenth century as a town obsessed by the need to conceal the misdeeds of its founders, and to perpetuate their lies.
'The scene is Queensland of the 'seventies and 'eighties of the last century, that most interesting period in Australian history when, "out of the wealth which the tough and sometimes dishonest pioneers had got together, the social graces were beginning to blossom." The major theme of the book is the conflict between this new age, struggling to be born, and the grim years preceding when success in this crude, untamed land could be won only by grim endurance, iron determination, and frequently by crime and violence.'
Sources: Buckridge, Patrick and Belinda McKay. By the Book: a literary history of Queensland. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2007.
Rev. of Inheritors, by Brian Penton. Illawarra Mercury 23 Oct 1936.
Notes
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Sequel to Landtakers : The Story of an Epoch
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Dedication: For Cecil Mann.
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Epigraph: At last the old man died/ And left his sons a legacy,/ Of hate and fear and broken pride,/ To wear beneath their finery:/ And the dream's lie, and the pain/ Of the seed that dies to be born again. (Andrew pryor)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
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Works about this Work
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Films Hollywood Almost Made about Australia
2019
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— Appears in: FilmInk , 14 February 2019; -
The Mayne Scandal and the Penton Novels
1998
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criticism
— Appears in: Notes & Furphies , October no. 41 1998; (p. 5-6) - y The Scandalous Penton : A Biography of Brian Penton St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1994 Z575375 1994 single work biography
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The Penton Scandal : Rhetoric and Lifestyle in the Career of an Australian Intellectual
1988
single work
criticism
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— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 48 no. 1 1988; (p. 31-45) -
National Self-Definition
1986
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criticism
— Appears in: A History of Australian Literature 1986; (p. 58-84)
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New Australian Books
1936
single work
review
— Appears in: All About Books , 12 November vol. 8 no. 11 1936; (p. 173-174)
— Review of Inheritors : A Novel 1936 single work novel ; Gone Nomad : Twenty Years' Vagabond Wanderings in Three Continents 1936 single work prose ; Tom Groggin and Other Poems 1936 selected work poetry -
Sequel to 'Landtakers' : Brian Penton's Fine Work
1936
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australasian , 19 September vol. 141 no. 4576 1936; (p. 5)
— Review of Inheritors : A Novel 1936 single work novel -
Untitled
1936
single work
review
— Appears in: The North Queensland Register , 7 November 1936; (p. 97)
— Review of Inheritors : A Novel 1936 single work novel -
Book Talk
1936
single work
review
— Appears in: The Central Queensland Herald , 3 December 1936; (p. 17)
— Review of Inheritors : A Novel 1936 single work novel -
Untitled
1936
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review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 14 November 1936; (p. 927)
— Review of Inheritors : A Novel 1936 single work novel -
The Mayne Scandal and the Penton Novels
1998
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criticism
— Appears in: Notes & Furphies , October no. 41 1998; (p. 5-6) -
These Neglectful Australians
1937
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column
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 13 January vol. 58 no. 2970 1937; (p. 9) -
Brian Penton
1945
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Australian Novel : A Historical Anthology 1945; (p. 264-268) -
The Novel : Novels of Purpose
1961
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criticism
— Appears in: A History of Australian Literature, Pure and Applied : A Critical Review of All Forms of Literature Produced in Australia from the First Books Published After the Arrival of the First Fleet Until 1950, with Short Accounts of Later Publications Up to 1960 1961; (p. 1122-1152) -
National Self-Definition
1986
single work
criticism
— Appears in: A History of Australian Literature 1986; (p. 58-84)
- 1890s