The Anthology of Colonial Australian Romance Fiction

The best examples of colonial Australian romance are collected in this anthology, from writers such as Ada Cambridge, Rosa Praed, Francis Adams, Henry Lawson, and many others. These fascinating stories show the many different outcomes of romance: happiness and marriage in some cases, loneliness and regret in others. They show colonial women challenged by a new life in a new place. But they show men being put to the test, too, and sometimes failing in the quest for love in a brave new world.

Ken Gelder is a professor of literary studies at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Popular Fiction: The Logics and Practices of a Literary Field, Reading the Vampire, and Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice. He is the coauthor of After the Celebration and Uncanny Australia: Sacredness and Identity in a Postcolonial Nation. Rachael Weaver is research fellow in literary studies at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of The Criminal of the Century.