It was Idriess' first novel and was semi-autobiographical, although he invented the love interest at the insistence of the publisher.[1][2]
Plot
Jack Burnett decides to go prospecting on an uninhabited island in the Barrier Reef with a friend. The friend goes mad and tries to kill Jack. Jack discovers some opium stashed away by Japanese smugglers. Jack is rescued and sells the opium to a Chinese merchant in Cooktown.
In Cairns, Jack runs into the Japanese smugglers, but manages to escape with the help of a woman he has fallen in love with.[3]
Background
The book was based on a true incident that happened to Idriess. In 1923 he was marooned on Howick Island in Queensland with a friend he had gone prospecting with. The friend had a war injury which sent him mad and he tried to kill Idriess.[4]
Idriess kept a diary of his time on the island and used it as the basis for the book. He sold it to a publisher in 1925.[1][5][6]
Idriess fictionalised the story, including a subplot about opium smuggling.
Reception
The book was not received particularly well.[7][8]
Idriess rewrote the book after he had achieved acclaim with his other writings. He removed the fictional elements and instead revised it as a memoir. It was republished in 1938 and was a large success, selling 70,000 copies.[1][9][10][11][12]
Radio adaptation
ABC Weekly 16 August 1941
The novel was serialised for radio in 1941,[13] the first time one of his books was so adapted,[14] and on which it was read by Ellis Price.[15][16][17] It was adapted for radio again in 1949.[18]
↑ "NEW FICTION". The Sydney Morning Herald. No.27, 898. New South Wales, Australia. 4 June 1927. p.10. Retrieved 16 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Marooned". The Telegraph. No.15, 675. Queensland, Australia. 23 February 1923. p.6. Retrieved 16 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "MADMAN'S ISLAND". Daily Examiner. Vol.17, no.2549. New South Wales, Australia. 4 September 1925. p.7. Retrieved 16 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Marooned on Madman's Island". Sunday Mail. No.445. Queensland, Australia. 30 October 1938. p.1 (MAGAZINE SECTION). Retrieved 16 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Thrills Pack LIfe: Idriess Was 'Broke' So Took To Pen", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 36 (27), Sydney: Wireless Press, July 5, 1941, nla.obj-721538126, retrieved 12 December 2023– via Trove
↑ "Idriess Stories For Broadcast", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 35 (48), Sydney: Wireless Press, November 30, 1940, retrieved 12 December 2023– via Trove
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