Harris discusses the life and works of Jessie Couvreur and argues that the Australianness of her fiction is inextricable from the dramatisation of the woman question. But, while autobiographical elements can be found, Harris stresses that the novels are much more complicated than simple self-justification or therapy because female characters are not readily exonerated. The popularity of Couvreur's fiction, however, was achieved by the successful transplantation of familiar character types and situations from other nineteenth century fiction to the unfamiliar Australian setting.