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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
It's 1915 and the world is at war - a fact of no great significance to the quiet world of Sally Putman with its chooks to be fed, ice-creams to be sold to ferry passengers bound for the beach at Mosman, its gramophone parties and next door neighbours. But being German in an Australia gripped by prejudice is a fact that must be dealt with.
Considered too radical perhaps for publication in its own time, The Invaluable Mystery has only now, more than sixty years after its writing, been unearthed in the National Archive.
(Source: back cover, 1987 edition)
Notes
-
Harford's only novel, The Invaluable Mystery was written between 1921-1924.
-
Epigraph: 'This place is made by God; an invaluable mystery , it is without reproof.'
Contents
* Contents derived from the
Fitzroy,
Fitzroy - Collingwood area,
Melbourne - North,
Melbourne,
Victoria,:
Ringwood,
Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area,
Melbourne - East,
Melbourne,
Victoria,:McPhee Gribble
,Penguin
, 1987 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
- Introduction, single work criticism (p. 5-17)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Sleeping With the Enemy : Patriot Games in Fictions by Lesbia Harford, Gwen Kelly, and Joan Dugdale
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature , vol. 37 no. 2 2002; (p. 157-173) Author examines three novels by women authors dealing with the experiences of women and children 'who were left to cope on their own in a hostile environment when their husbads were interned.' She finds that these novels 'challenge the assumptions about both war and gender that have informed the aethetics of the prevailing canon of Great War literature in Australia.' (pp.157-158) -
Lesbia Harford
1998
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Quadrant , December vol. 42 no. 12 1998; (p. 53-56) -
Lesbia Harford's Homefront Warrior and Women's World War I Writing
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 17 no. 1 1995; (p. 19-28) -
Stubborn Singers of Their Full Song : Mary Gilmore and Lesbia Harford
1993
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Time to Write : Australian Women Writers 1890-1930 1993; (p. 108-138) -
Untitled
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Studies , December no. 4 1990; (p. 127-129)
— Review of Captivity Captive 1988 single work novel ; The Rose Fancier 1988 selected work short story ; The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel
-
A Significant Find
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The CRNLE Reviews Journal , no. 2 1987-1988; (p. 45-47)
— Review of The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel -
Penguins New and Revisited
1988
single work
review
— Appears in: Social Alternatives , June vol. 7 no. 2 1988; (p. 57-58)
— Review of The Well Dressed Explorer 1962 single work novel ; Landscape with Landscape 1985 selected work short story ; That Eye, the Sky 1986 single work novel ; Minimum of Two 1987 selected work short story ; Testostero 1987 single work novel ; The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel ; Holden's Performance 1987 single work novel -
Notes on Fiction
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Phoenix Review , Summer 1987/8 no. 2 1987; (p. 117-120)
— Review of The Last Man's Head : Chip-Chop, Chip-Chop, The Last Man's Head Off 1970 single work novel ; Self Possession 1987 single work novel ; The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel ; Stories from the Warm Zone and Sydney Stories 1987 selected work short story autobiography -
Untitled
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Studies , December no. 4 1990; (p. 127-129)
— Review of Captivity Captive 1988 single work novel ; The Rose Fancier 1988 selected work short story ; The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel -
Of Charm and Politics : Two Novels Reclaimed
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 95 1987; (p. 15-16)
— Review of The Three Miss Kings 1883 single work novel ; The Invaluable Mystery 1987 single work novel -
Sleeping With the Enemy : Patriot Games in Fictions by Lesbia Harford, Gwen Kelly, and Joan Dugdale
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature , vol. 37 no. 2 2002; (p. 157-173) Author examines three novels by women authors dealing with the experiences of women and children 'who were left to cope on their own in a hostile environment when their husbads were interned.' She finds that these novels 'challenge the assumptions about both war and gender that have informed the aethetics of the prevailing canon of Great War literature in Australia.' (pp.157-158) -
Introduction
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Invaluable Mystery 1987; (p. 5-17) -
Stubborn Singers of Their Full Song : Mary Gilmore and Lesbia Harford
1993
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Time to Write : Australian Women Writers 1890-1930 1993; (p. 108-138) -
Lesbia Harford's Homefront Warrior and Women's World War I Writing
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 17 no. 1 1995; (p. 19-28) -
One Out of the Box
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Book Magazine , August-September vol. 1 no. 2 1987; (p. 10-40)
Last amended 9 Apr 2015 09:56:55
Settings:
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- 1910s
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