 Title page for Materfamilias (1898) | |
| Author | Ada Cambridge |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Ward, Lock, London |
Publication date | 1898 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 314 pp |
| Preceded by | Fidelis |
| Followed by | Path and Goal |
Materfamilias (1898) is a novel by Australian writer Ada Cambridge. [1]
The novel is a first-person narrative that follows the life of a woman, Mary Braye, from the time she is first married until she becomes a grandmother.
In a very brief review The Queenslander noted: "Of all phases of life that dealing with domesticity is the most difficult to portray in a manner sufficiently attractive to command interest ed attention. In this art Ada Cambridge excels, and her latest book is fully equal to anything which has yet sprung from her pen. In addition to being an attractive story, Materfamilias has the recommendation of being instructive, with an underlying. well-developed moral." [2]
The Sydney Mail opined that the author "has written us hitherto many acceptable domestic stories, but we question whether she has ever done anything before to equal her new story, Materfamilias... It is an admirable study of femininity in some of its greatest and its smallest at tributes by a woman. No man could hare written it with such understanding." [3]
The novel was serialised in The Evening News (Sydney) in 20 instalments starting on 22 June 1898. [4]
The Courier-Mail is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. It is available for purchase both online and in paper form throughout Queensland and most regions of Northern New South Wales.
Ada Cambridge, later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works. Many of her novels were serialised in Australian newspapers but never published in book form. While she was known to friends and family by her married name, Ada Cross, her newspaper readers knew her as A.C. She later reverted to her maiden name, Ada Cambridge, and that is how she is known today.
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