An Australian girl : Catherine Martin

Catherine Martin (nee Mackay) has been called a 'genius' by some critics. One of these, Catherine Helen Spence, described her as the only novelist of genius to their time.

Born in Scotland, on the Isle of Skye, Catherine Martin came to settle with her family, - and many other Scots - at Mount Gambier when a child. As a teenager she had poems published in the Mount Gambier Standard. Living and working in Adelaide in 1876, her serial story, "The moated grange" appeared in the South Australian Chronicle. From this time her stories and poems appeared in various Adelaide and Melbourne newspapers, including the Observer miscellany.

In 1890 An Australian girl was published anonymously in London, and was an immediate success, re-printed twice - in 1891 and 1894. It is the story of Stella, growing up in South Australia, and marrying Ted, who she has known since her childhood. However, not all turns out well, and much of the novel deals with Stella's exploration of her situation.

Apart from her descriptions and insights into character, Catherine Martin has been praised for her evocation of the natural scenery of Australia. For her the Bush is not mere background, but integral to the development of her characters.

Martin's final novel, The incredible journey, published in 1923, tells the tale of an Aboriginal woman searching for her son, who has been taken by a white man. The novel is in part a protest against this practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families, which was then just beginning to occur in Australia.

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