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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature ed. William H. Wilde et. al. (1994): 638 says it deals 'with urban middle-class families attempting to overcome the stigma of convict antecedents; in Social Life in Sydney the brother and sister Margaret and Gerald Bright make their way in Sydney society through many reversals of fortune. Margaret marries Edmund Milner and leads a life of comfortable seclusion which is disrupted by the return of her convict father. Gerald prospers in business but is led into questionable speculation by Phryn, Milner's discredited clerk. The saintly Margaret dies in a bushfire while fulfilling her duty to her father, but Gerald repairs the family's fortune and wins happiness and respect.'
Notes
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E. Morris Miller's Australian Literature from Its Beginnings to 1935 (1940): 606 comments: 'Social Life in Sydney, 1866, reissued and revised under the author's own name in 1914, is a narrative dealing witrh the amenities and jealousies affecting Sydney society, family life and business circles during the 'fifties and 'sixties, presented as an aftermath of convictism; with Hobart connections.'
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Epigraph: Australia's skies are clear and bright, And brighter still they seem, Now that I only picture them In memory's waking dream. M.H.R.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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News of the Week
1866
single work
review
— Appears in: The Leader , 8 September 1866; (p. 2)
— Review of Social Life in Sydney; or, Colonial Experience : An Australian Tale 1866 single work novel
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News of the Week
1866
single work
review
— Appears in: The Leader , 8 September 1866; (p. 2)
— Review of Social Life in Sydney; or, Colonial Experience : An Australian Tale 1866 single work novel
Last amended 13 Apr 2018 09:34:13
Settings:
- 1840-1860
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