 First US edition | |
| Author | Christina Stead |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Publisher | Peter Davies, London (UK) Simon & Schuster (US) |
Publication date | 1938 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 795pp |
| Preceded by | The Beauties and Furies |
| Followed by | The Man Who Loved Children |
House of All Nations (1938) is a novel by Australian writer Christina Stead. [1]
The novel portrays the inner workings of the financial world of a bank in Paris in the early 1930s. The bank is populated by a cast of shady characters who are manipulative, unsavory schemers. The owner of the Bertillon Brothers bank, Jules Bertillon, exemplifies all that is bad about the bank and will stop at nothing to achieve his sole aim of making as much money as he can.
A reviewer in The Mail (Adelaide) was greatly impressed with the novel finding that "Miss Stead's interest lies with the people, queer, mercurial, people with the superstitions and instincts of savages, and the clothes and manners of the beau monde. As in all great works, her vision penetrates beyond the immediate significance of what she sees and describes to the broader implications. It is this, perhaps, that gives the book its morbid fascination, for Miss Stead is merely studying people in an advanced stage of the disease which affects all of us more or less in our desire to make money as rapidly and as easily as possible." [2]
But a reviewer in The Sydney Morning Herald was much more critical: "House of All Nations, Christina Stead's new novel, may be a brilliant exposition of the modern international financial system, but it is not a good novel. The author already has exhibited a predilection of style described by one critic as "rich and strange." In the present case, her richness will probably give the average reader an acute attack of mental indigestion; the strangeness may perhaps make it a thing of beauty to that exclusive circle which professes to enjoy and be impressed by obscurity. In both matter and manner, this book must inevitably present grave difficulties to most readers. The world of international finance is, to most of us, a remote one. No one will dispute the fact that it easily might be made the stage for swift and moving drama. To the attainment of this end, however, Miss Stead's approach is not suitable, She is absorbed by thoughts and individuáis, and lacks the power to co-ordinate them towards a telling and comprehensible climax. She allows herself, to be preoccupied and side-tracked by an infinite variety of queer characters and incidents. Intensely interesting in themselves, no doubt, but distracting to the reader who seeks, in vain, a stable thread which might lead him out of the maze." [3]
Christina Stead was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a member of the Communist Party. She spent much of her life outside Australia, although she returned before her death.
Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was published, and she went on to publish fifteen novels, four short story collections and three non-fiction books, publishing well into her 70s and achieving significant critical acclaim. She was also a pioneer of creative writing teaching in Australia, counting many well-known writers such as Tim Winton among her students at Curtin University.
Elizabeth Harrower is an Australian novelist and short story writer. She has been considered "one of the great novelists of Sydney". Much of her work tackles the theme of domestic abuse, particularly the psychological abuse of vulnerable women at the hands of their manipulative, deceitful and tyrannical male partners.
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.
Kate Morton is an international bestselling Australian author. Morton has sold more than 11 million books in 42 countries, making her one of Australia's "biggest publishing exports". The award-winning author has written six novels: The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House, and The Clockmaker's Daughter.
The Widow and Her Hero is a novel by the Australian author Thomas Keneally set in Australia during World War II.
Three Dog Night is a 2003 novel by Australian author Peter Goldsworthy.
I'm Dying Laughing: The Humourist is a novel by Christina Stead. It was published posthumously by Virago Press in 1986, edited and with a preface by Ron Geering.
Red Sky at Morning is a 1944 Australian melodrama set during the 19th century. It features an early screen performance by Peter Finch, who plays a convict who falls in love with the wife of a sea captain.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1938.
Fiona McGregor is an Australian writer and performance artist who was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1965. Her third novel, Indelible Ink, won the 2011 The Age Book of the Year award.
An Australian Girl in London (1902) is a novel by Australian author Louise Mack.
Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934) is the first novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.
For Love Alone (1944) is a novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.
The Beauties and Furies (1936) is a novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.
The Little Hotel (1973) is a novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.
Some Everyday Folk and Dawn (1909) is a novel by Australian writer Miles Franklin.
The Young Cosima (1939) is the last novel by Australian writer Henry Handel Richardson.
Night of the Party (1938) is a novel by Australian author Martin Boyd.
Ride on Stranger (1943) is a novel by Australian writer Kylie Tennant.