Coonardoo (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Katharine Susannah Prichard
- First Published: 1929
- Type of Work: Social criticism
- Time of Work: Late nineteenth century to the 1920’s
- Setting: Wytaliba, a cattle station in North West Australia
- Principal Characters: Coonardoo, Bessle Watt, Hugh Watt, Mollie Watt, Warleda, Sam Geary
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: History, Cattle, Class conflict, Racism, Love or romance, Race, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Social issues, 1910’s, 1920’s, Adultery, Illegitimacy, Childbirth, Australia or Australians
- Locales: Australia
The Novel
Coonardoo spans several decades in the lives of the black aborigines and their white employers on Wytaliba, a remote cattle station in the harsh and arid region of North West Australia, owned and managed first by the tough and gritty widow, Bessie Watt, and later by her son, Hugh Watt. In the opening paragraph, Coonardoo, the lovely, lithe aboriginal girl whom Mrs. Watt is training as a housemaid, is sitting under some bushes, chanting an aboriginal song about kangaroos.
Underlying a complex and densely packed narrative is the story of the unspoken and...
[The entire page is 2158 words long]
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