Jane Austen, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest English novelists, possessed another talent that enriched her life and work - music. She played and sang draws on the newly digitised music books of the Austen family, granting us a deeper understanding of the writer's artistic prowess and the influences that shaped her literary masterpieces.

The European maritime explorers who first visited the bays and beaches of Australia brought with them diverse assumptions about the inhabitants of the country, most of them based on sketchy or non-existent knowledge, contemporary theories like the idea of the noble savage, and an automatic belief in the superiority of European civilisation. Mutual misunderstanding was almost universal, whether it resulted in violence or apparently friendly transactions. Written for a general audience, The First Wave brings together a variety of contributions from thought-provoking writers, including both original research and creative work. Our contributors explore the dynamics of these early encounters, from Indigenous cosmological perspectives and European history of ideas, from representations in art and literature to the role of animals, food and fire in mediating first contact encounters, and Indigenous agency in exploration and shipwrecks.

From a Tiny Corner in the House of Fiction gathers into a single volume twenty-three interviews with the British novelist and philosopher Dame Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) by some of the last half-century's foremost critics, academics, and journalists. Distinguished interviewers--including the renowned scholar Sir Frank Kermode, the theater critic Harold Hobson, and the writer and broadcaster Jonathan Miller--talk with Murdoch about her life, work, and philosophy. The resulting conversations offer access to Murdoch's beliefs on a wide range of topics and on her techniques and intentions as a writer. The interviews collectively trace an evolution in Murdoch's convictions, particularly on the subjects of religion and politics.

Murdoch shares details of both her created and lived worlds, talking frankly about the difficulties facing a novelist writing in the second half of the twentieth century. She speaks at length about many of her novels and characters, explaining their philosophical and ethical foundations and clarifying points that have puzzled readers. Especially interesting are her views on such subjects as politics and freedom, women's education, the good life, and the possibilities for spiritual life after the demise of organized religions.

Gillian Dooley introduces the collection with an analysis of Murdoch's work, looking closely at her method of composition and development of character and situation. Dooley also provides background information for each of the interviews, along with a thorough index.

An introduction to the uncompromising artistic vision of the internationally acclaimed writer

A survey of the life and work of the 2001 Nobel Laureate for Literature, V. S. Naipaul, Man and Writer introduces readers to the writer widely viewed as a curmudgeonly novelist who finds special satisfaction in overturning the vogue presuppositions of his peers. Gillian Dooley takes an expansive look at Naipaul's literary career, from Miguel Street to Magic Seeds. From readings of his fiction, nonfiction, travel books, and volumes of letters, she elucidates the connections between Naipaul's personal experiences as a Hindu Indian from Trinidad living an expatriate life and the precise, euphonious prose with which he is synonymous.

Dooley assesses each of Naipaul's major publications in light of his stated intentions and beliefs, and she traces the development of his writing style over a forty-year career. Devoting separate chapters to three of his chief works, A House for Mr. Biswas, In a Free State, and The Enigma of Arrival, she analyzes their critical reception and the primacy of Naipaul's specific narrative style and voice. Dooley emphasizes that it is, above all, Naipaul's refusal to compromise his vision in order to flatter or appease that has made him a controversial writer. At the same time she sees the integrity with which he reports his subjective response to the world as essential to the lasting success of his work.

Born at the end of the Age of Enlightenment and growing up as Romanticism took hold of European culture, Matthew Flinders was the embodiment of these seemingly irreconcilable movements. His achievements as a navigator and leader are impressive, but he was much more than an action hero, idolised by generations of admirers.

In Matthew Flinders: The Man behind the Map Gillian Dooley looks to the primary sources to discover Flinders as a friend; a son, a brother, a father and a husband; as a writer, a researcher, a reader, and a musician - and above all as a romantic scientist.

When we think of Iris Murdoch's relationship with art forms, the visual arts come most readily to mind. However, music and other sounds are equally important. Soundscapes - music and other types of sound - contribute to the richly textured atmosphere and moral tenor of Murdoch's novels. This book will help readers to appreciate anew the sensuous nature of Iris Murdoch's prose, and to listen for all kinds of music, sounds and silences in her novels, opening up a new sub-field in Murdoch studies in line with the emerging field of Word and Music Studies.

This study is supported by close readings of selected novels exemplifying the subtle variety of ways she deploys music, sounds and silence in her fiction. It also covers Murdoch's knowledge of music and her allusions to music throughout her work, and includes a survey of musical settings of her words by various composers.

When we think of Iris Murdoch's relationship with art forms, the visual arts come most readily to mind. However, music and other sounds are equally important. Soundscapes - music and other types of sound - contribute to the richly textured atmosphere and moral tenor of Murdoch's novels. This book will help readers to appreciate anew the sensuous nature of Iris Murdoch's prose, and to listen for all kinds of music, sounds and silences in her novels, opening up a new sub-field in Murdoch studies in line with the emerging field of Word and Music Studies.

This study is supported by close readings of selected novels exemplifying the subtle variety of ways she deploys music, sounds and silence in her fiction. It also covers Murdoch's knowledge of music and her allusions to music throughout her work, and includes a survey of musical settings of her words by various composers.

A fascinating study of the role that music played in Jane Austen's life.

Like her much-loved heroine Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen 'played and sang'. Music occupied a central role in her life, and she made brilliant use of it in her novels to illuminate characters' personalities and highlight the contrasts between them.

Delving into the Austen family music books, Gillian Dooley discovers a treasure trove of evidence that unveils a previously underappreciated facet of Austen's world. She unravels the author's musical connections with family and friends, revealing the intricate ties between her fiction and the melodies she performed.

With these revelations, Austen's musical legacy comes to life, granting us a deeper understanding of her artistic prowess and the influences that shaped her literary masterpieces.

This book is a consideration of various themes and techniques ranging across famous South African writer J. M. Coetzee's whole oeuvre. It aims to discover the how rather than what or why where does Coetzee's work derive its power? A discussion of themes, influences, and allegorical meanings tends to bleach out the experience of reading; and this experience is surely the only reason for choosing Coetzee's narratives over anyone else's. It examines the type of resistance to be found in his work, a resistance which seems to have little basis in a political belief or a rational philosophy of justice. The book also traces the effects of Coetzee's choice of point of view in each of his books--how it interacts with questions of complicity and impressions of realism, as well as how it relates to the subject matter and characters he is dealing with in each case. It is also an exploration of the place of the comic arts in Coetzee's work. This is a subject which has routinely been dismissed by critics who have failed to discern any humor in the novels. The contention is that a sense of the ridiculous and absurd is implicit in much of Coetzee's narrative prose and can be seen in the underlying structure of all his books. This study delves into his use of language and languages: the choice of tenses, the surprising flights of imagery to be found amidst the taut elegance of his narrative style; and also the multilingual sensibilities he shares with many of his characters, not excluding the non-verbal language of music.