The Anthology of Colonial Australian Fiction by Ken Gelder & Rachael Weaver (Paperback, 2007)

This anthology collects the best examples of Australian gothic short stories from colonial times. Demonic bird cries, grisly corpses, ghostly women and psychotic station-owners populate a colonial landscape which is the stuff of nightmares.

In stories by Marcus Clarke, Mary Fortune and Henry Lawson, the colonial homestead is wracked by haunted images of murder and revenge. Settlers are disoriented and traumatised as they stumble into forbidden places and explorers disappear, only to return as ghostly figures with terrible tales to tell. These compelling stories are the dark underside to the usual story of colonial progress, promise and nation-building, and reveal just how vivid the gothic imagination is at the heart of Australian fiction.

Format: Paperback | 282 pages

Dimensions (cm): 22.3 x 15.3 x 1.8 | 376g

Publication Date: 01 Jul 2007

Publisher: Melbourne University Press

Publication City/Country: Carlton, VIC, Australia

Language: English

ISBN10: 0522854222

ISBN13: 9780522854220

 

Condition: Acceptable

A book with obvious wear. Has some damage to the cover, including two large creases on the front cover and minor wrinkling on the back cover, caused by water damage, but integrity still intact. No writing in margins, no underlining and highlighting of text, and no missing pages or anything that would compromise the legibility or understanding of the text. The top-corner of the last 76 pages are wrinkled, and very lightly stained, due to water damage. It is most obvious from the last page, and gradually gets smaller until it disappears on page 200, none of which compromises the legibility or understanding of the text. Still a clean, solid and readable copy.