AustLit

An aspiring poet's lyrical verses become basic doggerel in the hands of a firm newspaper editor. Bathetic humour. (PB)

Slight English country romance - honest love etc. A London dweller, Bessie, is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in the country by her mother - to separate her from a man her mother disapproves of. Bessie wins her aunt and uncle's hearts, saves a train from being wrecked and thus saves also her lover's life. Her aunt and uncle and uncle approve of the poor but honest mechanic happiness follows. (PB)

Historical suspense set in Paris in 1810 - 1812. Dramatic account of an attempt to assassinate Napoleon by a Spanish nobleman by means of an ingenious clock, and M. Fouche's frustration of the plot. Well-written. (PB)

A young clergyman loses the ring given him as a pledge of their betrothal by his fiancee in a stream. His conviction that it will be inside a fish he catches is soon tested ... (PB)

In a US prison, a benefactor hears a gentlemanly young pioneer's tale of his wrongful conviction for burglary, his escape and re-establishment of himself in Cincinatti and his betrayal by the father of his fiancee ... (PB)

Mr. Dobbs forgets to post Mrs. Dobbs' letters to a friend, nearly causing a rupture between them. (PB)

Violet Lloyd wins the affection of her disapproving prospective sister-in-law by caring for her after an accident. She does not reveal her identity till the task is done. (PB)

Family tale set in England and Australia. A lady's visit to a Melbourne pawnbroker results in the purchase of a wedding ring and during a visit to Ballarat she meets the mother of the woman named in the ring. With the help of the ring, the woman's parents are at last able to discover her fate and rescue their poor child from a factory and her husband from drink.

A covetous dissipated father bullies his daughter into marrying a rich gentleman who loves her, destroying letters from the man she loves who is with his regiment in India. She never forgets him but, when they meet several years later and learn the truth, refuses to abandon her husband and honour to fly with him. He dies in New Zealand two years later and the news kills her. Well-written though overwrought. (PB)

Reactions differ when they decided to criticise each other's work. Humour. (PB)

Gretchen, the daughter of a German mother and English father is hired to assist Mrs Chester on her husband's station in country Victoria, and to bring along her brother Karl as company for Mrs Chester's son. On arrival she discovers Mr Chester is mad with a fear of white wehr-cats and the death of his son at 15. Gretchen's firmness restores his sanity somewhat, though he and his wife die before the end of the tale. A sub-plot involves Gretchen's reunion with her lost lover Fritz and the suicide of the maid Bella as a result. References to German folk literature, werewolves, etc. (PB)

A new dairy hand's reluctance to face customers to whom he had mistakenly delivered watery milk is overcome ... light humour. (PB)

Wryly pleasant. Effie Smith is sent Cinderella-fashion to substitute for her rich cousins at a children's party thrown by a friend of their father's. Effie mistakenly attends the wrong ball where she meets handsome rich Laurence Calvert - who accompanies her to the true party when the mistake is discovered and she is insulted and distressed. All ends happily. (PB)

A traveller in the American west seeks shelter in a settler's cabin but is uneasy when they seem to watch him closely and fear for the large sum of money he is carrying. They do threaten him and tie him up - but in the mistaken belief that he is a bank robber. (PB)

A Russian travelling in Italy discovers and foils a murderous scheme used by local bandits in the Apennines to rob and kill travellers at a roadside inn. (PB)

Three scenes depict John Walters's principled refusal to drink with his fellow miners and their charges of cowardice; a cave-in; and Walters' death saving the life of his taunter. (PB)

Australian gold rush adventure. An aristocratic stranger joins a band of gold-diggers, earning their respect by his courage and recklessness. After many weeks of hard and isolated work they decide to return and discover the stranger has left with their gold - but they are attacked by bushrangers and he returns fighting recklessly until they are repelled. He dies from a slow wound, as silent about his identity as he lived. Tale of male affection despite unequal social origins - all possible in the bush. (Status markers still maintained, however). (PB)

A husband and wife are separated soon after marriage by the demands of the Indian branch of his London firm. He returns unexpectedly after two years and decides to surprise his wife - eventually testing her faithfulness - only to discover she can play games too. Comic. (PB)