We of the Never Never
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We of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book under the name Mrs Aeneas Gunn, using her husband's first and last name. Over the years newspapers and magazine articles chronicled the fortunes of the Elsey characters: Jeannie outlived all but Bett-Bett.[1]
Background
Gunn was the first white woman to settle in the Mataranka area. Her husband was a partner in Elsey cattle station on the Roper River, some 483 km (300 miles) south of Darwin. On 2 January 1902 the couple sailed for Port Darwin so that he could take up his role as the station's new manager. In Palmerston (Darwin), Gunn was discouraged from accompanying her husband to the station on the basis that as a woman she would be "out of place" on a station such as the Elsey. However, she travelled south and her book describes the journey and settling in. On 16 March 1903 Aeneas died of malarial dysentery and Jeannie returned to Melbourne shortly afterwards.[1]
Publication history
We of the Never Never was translated into German in 1927.[1] By 1945, 320,000 copies of the book had been sold. This novel, together with her other book, was adapted for Australian schools.[1] By 1990 over a million copies of the book had been sold.[2]
Significance
The book is regarded as being significant as a precursor of the 1930s landscape writers. Already in 1908 Australia was a significantly urbanised country and the book was seen to provide symbols of things that made Australia different from anywhere else, underwriting an Australian legend of life and achievement in the outback, where "men and a few women still lived heroic lives in rhythm with the gallop of a horse" in "forbidding faraway places".[2]
In 1988 the book was referred to as a "minor masterpiece of Australian letters" by Penguin’s New Literary History of Australia.[3]
Film
The book was made into a film also called We of the Never Never in 1982 and shot on location in the Northern Territory - the setting of the novel.
References
- ^ a b c d O'Neill, Sally (1983). "Gunn, Jeannie (1870 - 1961)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
- ^ a b Forrest, Peter (1990). "They of the Never Never" (pdf - 14 pages). Occasional Papers (no 18). Northern Territory Library Service. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
- ^ Ramsey, Alan (10 April 1999). "Fighting for the Never Never". Sydney Morning Herald (print) - transcript at The Mail Archive. Retrieved 11 January 2008.