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A Bride from the Bush

A Bride from the Bush is the first novel written by E. W. Hornung.[1] He started writing the book while working as a tutor for Charles Joseph Parsons in Mossgiel Station, New South Wales, Australia.[2] The novel was initially published by Smith, Elder & Co. as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, and then published in book format by the same company in October 1890.[3] As with Tiny Luttrell and The Unbidden Guest, two of Hornung's other early novels, A Bride from the Bush points out flaws in British society by presenting the country through an Australian perspective.[4] A reviewer from The New York Times called the novel "a most piquant contrast between civilization and crudity".[5] The writer Thomas Alexander Browne called the titular character of A Bride from the Bush "a libel to Australian womankind".[6] A Punch editor made the opposite claim, arguing that the protagonist of the novel is more kind-hearted and attractive than actual Australians.[7]

A Bride from the Bush
Two pages of a book, the one on the left depicting a woman wearing a hat and the one on the right reading "A Bride from the Bush Ernest Wm Hornung"
Title page
AuthorE. W. Hornung
LanguageEnglish
SeriesIvory Series
SubjectAustralia–United Kingdom relations
Published1890 (Smith, Elder & Co.)
Publication placeUnited Kingdom

Hornung's later stories in the A. J. Raffles series achieved much more popularity than A Bride from the Bush.[8] Nonetheless, he himself liked A Bride from the Bush and his other Australian stories better than those of Raffles.[9] When he published the novel Peccavi in 1900, a critic from The Advertiser wrote a scathing review, writing that Hornung should go back to Australia so he would be inspired to write something as good as A Bride from the Bush again.[10] Upon Hornung's death, a tribute in The Freeman's Journal called A Bride from the Bush "the best and the best known" of Hornung's Australia-related stories.[11] In 1924 André Cœuroy and Theodore Baker argued in The Musical Quarterly that Hornung's characterisation of the novel's hero as being pitiable for being unable to appreciate anthems demonstrates that A Bride from the Bush is typical of other novels of the time in favouring vocal church music.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Alison Cox. "E. W. Hornung". British Mystery Writers, 1860–1919. Dictionary of Literary Biography. 70. Gale: 172.
  2. ^ Jennifer Gariepy, ed. (1985). "E.W. Hornung". Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 59. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 0-8103-9303-4.
  3. ^ Peter Rowland (1999). Raffles and His Creator: The Life and Works of E. W. Hornung. London: Nekta Publications. p. 40.
  4. ^ Stephen Knight. "Hornung, Ernest William (1866–1921)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Publishing. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  5. ^ "A Bride from the Bush". The New York Times. 6 February 1897. p. 7.
  6. ^ "Our Anglo-Colonial Letter". The Chronicle: 19. 23 September 1893.
  7. ^ "Our Booking-Office". Punch: 197. 25 April 1891.
  8. ^ "The Reviewer". The Morning Bulletin: 8. 1 November 1926.
  9. ^ Eric Gunton (28 April 1945). "How Australian Knew "Raffles"". The Argus: 12S.
  10. ^ "Literary Notes from London". The Advertiser: 6. 23 January 1901.
  11. ^ "Raffles and His Creator: The Passing of E. W. Hornung". The Freeman's Journal: 13. 16 June 1921.
  12. ^ André Cœuroy; Theodore Baker (July 1924). "Musical Inspiration in English Literature of the Nineteenth Century". The Musical Quarterly. 10 (3): 324. doi:10.1093/mq/x.3.305.


 

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