SOURCE: Hamer, Clive. “The Surrender to Truth in the Early Australian Novel.” Australian Literary Studies 2, no. 2 (December 1965): 103-16.

In the following essay, Hamer highlights recurrent themes in Australian novels published between 1859 and 1889.

The period 1859 to 1889 is a distinctive period marking the beginnings of the Australian novel. The first known Australian novel was published in 1830—Quintus Servinton, a tale of convict life written by a convict, Henry Savery—but the first novel of note, written by a novelist of note, was The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn (1859), written by Henry Kingsley, who subsequently made a name for himself as an English novelist. Between 1830 and 1859 there were a number of books of fiction published on Australian subjects, by Australians and others, but they were on the whole mere sensational tales. The names of Charles Rowcroft and Catherine Spence stand out, both enjoying a contemporary popularity. Geoffry Hamlyn marks the beginning of...