Author | Morris West |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Publisher | Angus and Robertson |
Publication date | 1956 |
Media type | |
Pages | 207pp |
Preceded by | - |
Followed by | Kundu |
Gallows on the Sand is a 1956 novel by Morris West. It was the first novel he published under his own name. [1] He later claimed it was written in seven days for $250 in order to pay a tax bill after he had had a nervous breakdown. West credited the book as launching his career as a novelist. [2] [3] However a later review of the author's career dismissed it as a "potboiler". [4]
It was serialised for radio. [5]
The book was re-released in 1963 as part of Angus and Robertson's Pacific Book series. [6]
Historican Renn Lundigan hunts for treasure off the Great Barrier Reef. The treasure is minted Spanish gold in a sunken galleon. Renn has to deal with islander Johnny Akimoto, gambling house owner Manny Mannix and beautiful young scientist Pat Mitchell.
The Argus said "in spite of a tendency to the rather slick "Randy Stone" radio style, it is a bright, exciting yarn, guaranteed to take your mind off workaday cares. " [5]
The Pacific Islands Monthly called it "a buried treasure trifle." [7]
The same magazine later said it was "one of the first novels written by this world wide, best-seller author and long before he found his metier in the by-ways of Roman Catholicism," adding the book "only goes to prove how far a novelist with what it takes can travel in seven years. " [8]
The novel was serialised for radio in 1956 by West himself. It aired Monday to Thursday (beginning February 14) at 6.45 p.m. [9]
Morris Langlo West was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate (1959), The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963) and The Clowns of God (1981). His books were published in 27 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.
Catherine Helen Spence was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician, leading suffragist, and Georgist. Spence was also a minister of religion and social worker, and supporter of electoral proportional representation. In 1897 she became Australia's first female political candidate after standing (unsuccessfully) for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide. Called the "Greatest Australian Woman" by Miles Franklin and by the age of 80 dubbed the "Grand Old Woman of Australia", Spence was commemorated on the Australian five-dollar note issued for the Centenary of Federation of Australia.
The Argus was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left-leaning approach from 1949. The Argus's main competitor was David Syme's more liberal-minded newspaper, The Age.
Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy.
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