Antipodes Jane

by Barbara Ker Wilson

Recovering from a broken love affair, Jane Austen decides to accompany her aunt and uncle to New South Wales, where she falls in love once more and applies her considerable talents to creating a new society

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

329 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Barbara Ker Wilson was born on 24 September 1929 in Sunderland, in the north of England. In 1964 she immigrated to Australia, living first in Adelaide, then Melbourne, then Sydney. She settled in Leura, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

As a child she used to accompany her father to a large publishing office in London, to deliver corrected proofs of his latest engineering textbook, and she knew then that she wanted to work in the world of writing and publishing.
Her first 'successful' work, written when she was eight, was a play based on the coronation of King George VI; it was performed at her primary school in England.

The Second World War influenced her greatly, particularly the experience of living through air raids in London. With the end of the war came her first experience of travelling abroad; afterwards, she traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.

Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (1999).

Reviews

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining novel in which Jane Austen visits Australia with her uncle and Aunt Leigh Perrott. Her Aunt was in real life accused of shoplifting, and if found guilty could have faced transportation. The premise of this novel is that Mr Leigh Perrot, who was resolved to accompany his wife if she was found guilty, has read a lot about Australia and become interested in the place, and after his wife’s acquittal decides he would like to go there on a visit anyway, with his wife, and Jane is invited to accompany them. The story is a device to portray the early history of the colony and gives a fascinating glimpse into life as it was lived there. I found this a very convincing story, so much so that whenever I read a book about Jane Austen I am always vaguely disappointed that her Australian adventures are never mentioned!

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the opening unnecessarily sordid, but the rest was more pleasant. Jane Austen's aunt did go to trial for shoplifting and the quotes from the Sydney Gazette are authentic. Otherwise, a plausibly written tale of Jane Austen's fictional adventures in Australia.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Building on slender threads, this lovely book proposes that Jane Austen spent a period of her life in the convict colony of New South Wales. Jane's aunt was actually once brought to trial for shop-lifting and, had she been convicted, she would have indeed been transported.

In the novel, her uncle - a naturalist with a predilection for butterflies - becomes fascinated by the new settlement in the Antipodes during the time his wife is under suspicion of theft of high quality lace of a value more than sufficient for the death sentence. Should she be convicted, it is most likely the sentence will be commuted to seven years' transportation. Although the judgment goes in her favour, her husband is keen to travel to the new colony. Secretly, he hopes to find a new species of butterfly and to have his name immortalised.

Jane, recovering from a romance that ended when the man of her affections died suddenly, impulsively decides to go with them. There she meets a real-life D'arcy (!) Wentworth (!) and discovers and uncovers several mysteries, not least one to do with her own romantic past.

There are interesting historical tidbits scattered throughout the books - one is to do with Gulliver's Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. and the Gulf of Carpentaria (a vague reference that I'm still following up), a statement that Governor King had put on record that he believed the aboriginal people to be the real proprietors of the soil, and also the etymology of the "guinea" gold coin, which came from Guinea in Africa, known as the "Gold Coast".

[Barbara]

Heather would not have found this specific book from Barbara's reading list alone as it listed no author. Knowing she owned it is what solved this mystery.

[Janet]

The premise is that Jane Austen visit the Australian colony at the age of 26.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

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