Novel by Henry Handel Richardson
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony is a three-part novel by Australian writer Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson under her pen name, Henry Handel Richardson. It consists of "Australia Felix" (1917), "The Way Home" (1925), and "Ultima Thule" (1929). It was collected in 1930 under the title by which it is now best known. Its publisher, William Heinemann Ltd, claimed on the jacket to the 1965 edition, "This is now recognized as one of the greatest novels in the English language." It was acclaimed for its rich characterizations and then-startling depiction of mental illness attacking an otherwise respectable person, while his much-younger wife, who does not think herself clever, must become resourceful with a high-level of uncomfortable capability. In recent years, it has been recognised as a graphic description of the onset and evolution of young onset dementia caused by neurosyphilis, the condition from which her father died.
The book is based, at least in outline, on events in the life of Richardson's parents, Walter Lindesay Richardson and Mary Bailey, though it should not be considered a biography, as many major and minor changes were made. The publisher originally balked at publishing the third volume (after the first two had modest sales) without persuasion from Richardson's husband. Only when the third volume appeared was it hailed as a great novel. "Ultima Thule" won the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for 1929.
An early American edition of the book contained an introduction by Sinclair Lewis in which he erroneously claimed that Richardson's true name was Henrietta, with no mention of Ethel. A new 3-volume edition was released by Australian Scholarly Publishing in December 2007. A new one-volume edition, with a new introduction by Peter Craven, was issued in Australia by Text Publishing in its Text Classics series in 2012.
Australia Felix.
"Australia Felix" was originally published as "The Fortunes of Richard Mahony: Australia Felix", with the subtitle appearing only on the title page.
"Australia Felix" is a description used by explorer Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836 for the lush plains he discovered between the Murray River and the south coast of Victoria, including the area that later became the site of Ballarat.
Part One.
Nine chapters and a prologue introducing us to Dr. Richard Townshend-Mahony, F.R.C.S., M.D., Edinburgh, for two years the proprietor of Diggers' Emporium in Ballarat township, near Melbourne, which he runs with his assistants Long Jim and Ebenezer Hempel. He came to the goldfields in 1852 based on advertising that made gold seem easy to acquire. He was accompanied by his best friend, Purdy Smith, an Englishman with whom he has little in common, but is more refined than typical diggers like old lawyer Ocock and his son, Tom, and later, his older son, Henry. The fact that Mahony refuses to partake of alcohol on even a social level often causes others to dislike him.
A large portion of the first part deals with Mahony's courtship of fifteen-year-old Polly Turnham, who works as a servant at the Beamish Hotel, and with his sleeping with the two plump Beamish sisters, Tilly and Jinny. The sisters are virtually indistinguishable save for their eye color, and they insist on mispronouncing Richard's surname "Ma-"hon"-y", though the accent is supposed to be on the first syllable. After working with her brother, Ned, and facing a battery of questions from her elder brother, John, Richard is able to marry Polly. John and his beautiful wife Emma are unable to attend when the latter falls ill. Also arriving for the wedding is Polly's older sister, Sarah.
Part Two.
Eight chapters. The store unprofitable, Polly is displeased with the dirt floor shack Richard calls home. Richard takes up medicine at Polly's prompting and she helps Richard build a successful practice in Ballarat. John has gone temporarily mad when his wife's illness leads to her death. He was so devoted to her that he needs the children removed from his home while he recovers from his grief. Polly miscarries, and is more than happy to take in the children, Emma (Trotty, later Emmy), Johnny, and Jerry, along with Sarah. Sarah takes on a new name, Sara "(spoken Sahra)". Mahony &amp; Polly move to a new house.
Part Three.
Eleven chapters. Mahony begins a longstanding habit of shutting himself away reading religion and philosophy, starring with Lamarck and De Maillet, coming from a baseline of Irish Protestantism, and wanting to release God from the "dead-letterism from which the centuries had accumulated about Him" to reveal a God of mercy. Henry Ocock courts Agnes Glenidinning, whose father is in an asylum for trying to kill her. Sara is so sick of her name being mispronounced that she changes it to Zara for a more French feel. John recovers and takes toward politics with great success, and takes the children back in.
Part Four.
Twelve chapters. Ned takes to wife another Polly, so his sister begins using her real name, Mary, feeling she has outgrown the name Polly. Mahony has become rather successful as a physician, but Henry Ocock has been even more successful, which bothers Richard, who believes his relative refinement should be reflected in his earnings. Mahony does indeed become more and more successful, and Mary becomes deeply involved in the preparations for a gala to raise money for a statue of Burke and Wills. John sends his children to boarding school. The more successful Mahony gets, the more he longs to return to England. Tempted by the gold that was falsely promised, he had been wanting to extricate himself forever from Australia's soil, and he sells the house to pay for the journey, desiring to set up a country practice in a country where the apples grow red on all sides.
The Way Home.
Proem.
Richard is more sociable than Mary has ever seen him during the sea voyage home, and he does not appear to be as aloof and arrogant as he often was, but treating his fellow passengers sociably, many whose memories of England were dim if any, much like Mary's.
Part One.
Eight chapters. Richard settles on the town of Buddlecombe, near Glasgow. He selects a more pleasant house a little farther, and uphill from the main part of town. Business is slow to develop. There is only one other doctor in town, and he is a drunk. Richard begins to hold the suspicion that the fact that he has practised in Australia is being held against him. Such suspicions are confirmed, when this Doctor Robinson is forced to call upon him for aid, Robinson gets all the credit. And when Mary is mistakenly delivered an invitation to a party at "the Hall", the finest house in the town, that was intended for a woman living in a shanty down the road, he becomes convinced that he can have no success in England, and decides he must return again to Australia.
Part Two.
Nine chapters. Despite being fêted on their return to Ballarat, and its rise to "second city of Victoria" status, Richard has decided that he is the sort of person that cannot remain settled in one place, and decides that he is going to establish a practice in Melbourne, which is reasonable close enough to allow frequent contact with family and friends. He becomes wealthy through shares/dividends and no longer needs to work. He calls his new home, that he believes will be his last, Ultima Thule. Zara decides to marry Ebenezer Hempel, despite his age, for the sake of being married, as her worldly ways had gotten in the way of her finding a younger husband. Emmy spends more time with the Mahonys and Richard grows close to her. Purdy has now decided to marry Tilly. Agnes Ocock falls while holding her baby and he dies. Mahony's fortunes become so great that he lives on occasional consulting to the hospital and can afford all the books he has ever desired. He cocoons himself away with books he is constantly having special ordered from London. Mary can never respect his wishes not to be disturbed, never getting past the point of view that books are to pass the time, not essential mental exercise as they are to Richard. She is displeased that he becomes unsociable, yet he does go out on occasion. At one party in particular, he meets Lizzie Timms-Kelly, a young contralto. He is so impressed, that he brings John to meet her, who becomes smitten. Much to the distress of Emmy, John and Lizzie are married. Richard becomes much distressed at his wife's seeming illness, but it turns out that, at long last, they are to have a child. Richard, though he had wanted children before, is now less than enthusiastic about the intrusion onto his reading time, but does his best to accommodate the idea, and the child is baptized Cuthbert Hamilton Townshend-Mahony.
Part Three.
Ten chapters. "Cuffy"'s birth is followed by twin girls known as the Dumplings, later identified as Lallie (Alice) and Lucie. The Dumplings are an inseparable pair. Cuffy is clearly as introverted as his father, which is seen as quite bothersome. He is very modest and hates being changed in front of others. He also gets distraught when his parents leave, despite the presence of nannies and servants. John becomes ill and passes, and Lizzie has full charge of his assets so long as she lives in his home and does not remarry, which causes Emmy's animosity, coupled with Lizzie's attention to her own biological child, to grow. Richard regrets having ever introduced them. Richard considers it important for the children's development for them to see Europe, but in order to do so, he sells the house for some inexplicable reason. He can afford to live off a great investment and eventually return, having disliked England so much on his previous visit, but his new broker, Wilding, absconds with the funds, and the Mahonys must immediately make their way back to Australia.
Ultima Thule.
Ultima Thule was a medieval geographic term to denote a distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world". Mahony named his house in Melbourne "Ultima Thule", but the house was sold in "The Way Home" and was not returned to in this book, emphasizing how prematurely he had named it.
Part One.
Ten chapters. Now forty-nine years old, Richard Mahony is broke and has to start his life over again. He salvages 3,000 pounds, but gets into debt unbeknownst to Mary still in Europe, by building a too large new house for the family to return to. His practice in Melbourne doesn't work out and he hears of a good practice at Barambogie. Chapter Five consists of letters to Mary by Richard, staying in Barambogie. He goes to the neighboring towns and eventually establishes that he wants to lease a house near a lagoon there. The house has a hall full of doors that Cuffy particularly likes, though it is near a mill where many foreigners work, and there are some concerns about security, plus the mill whistle screeches every morning at 6am. The town is largely made up of these foreigners, who consider Richard snooty for not socializing with them in taverns. Emmy stays with the Mahonys and Cuffy and the Dumplings insist on having her go over the story of the death of her stepbrother Jacky, who died in infancy, as Cuffy was denied much information when it occurred despite his care and concern.
Emmy becomes interested in Reverend Mr. Angus, who shows her a dead donkey in a pit near the lagoon that Cuffy can't wait to see, even though he is not allowed. In this, he loses an expensive new hat, so Mary sends Emmy back to Lizzie, and a governess must be hired. A Baron visits, playing works by Schumann, and offers to be Cuffy's mentor and music teacher, but Mary refuses, despite Richard's insistence that Cuffy has a great ear that she cannot help any longer. Cuffy's memory fades, leaving only his play cry "Shooh, woman!" developed with the Dumplings. He discovers that eating the kernels of green almonds are a tasty treat, and invites the Dumplings to do so. All of them get very sick, but Cuffy quickly recovers, and Lallie does not come out of it. Even bringing in another doctor fails to help her. The funeral for Alice Mary Townshend-Mahony makes Christmas for the other children a financial hardship.
Part Two.
Ten chapters. Mary in