The Jade Widow
Page 29
Sir Henry Parkes’s autobiography, Fifty Years in the Making of Australian History (first published 1892 and republished online by the University of Sydney Library, 2000) and Charles E. Lyne’s Life of Sir Henry Parkes G.C.M.G. – Australian Statesman (T. Fisher Unwin, 1897), proved particularly helpful in researching this fascinating political figure, as did the parliamentary service records of the Parliament of NSW.
Frank Gibson’s Charles Conder: His Life and Work (John Lane, London, 1914) is an interesting contemporary account of Conder’s life, while Rose Scott’s obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald (22 April, 1925) provided many clues to her personality, as did an article by Judith Allen in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (op. cit.).
The Australian National Dictionary Centre, a joint project of the Australian National University and Oxford University Press Australia, has an outstanding online resource called ‘Meanings and Origins of Australian Words and Idioms’. It has been invaluable in checking the historical correctness of certain Australian idioms (such as ‘larrikin’). I cannot recommend this site highly enough.
In framing the letters which appear in the novel, I have referred to Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms: A Guide to Correct Writing by Thomas E. Hill (Hill Standard Book Company, 1888), as well as contemporary originals.
Q&A WITH DEBORAH O’BRIEN
Warning: These questions may contain spoilers so we recommend reading them after you finish the book.
What do you see as the major themes of The Jade Widow?
The overarching theme is the notion of women seeking their own identity in a male-dominated world. Things we take for granted in twenty-first century Australia such as a woman’s right to vote or to obtain a bank loan or a higher education were either non-existent or nigh on impossible in Victorian times. The prevailing view was that women were the weaker sex, physically, emotionally and intellectually.
Amy and Eliza were both ‘career women’ at a time when that was uncommon. Amy is a businesswoman cum entrepreneur, but in most other respects she conforms to the conventions of Victorian society. Eliza, on the other hand, questions social norms and holds views which would have been considered quite outrageous for a woman of her era. As a consequence, she is labelled an hermaphrodite by a male student and criticised for her ‘mannish interests’ by her brother. Meanwhile, she is struggling to complete a medical degree and reconcile the notion of love, marriage and children with her desire to pursue a career.
In Nancy we meet a girl who falls pregnant through her own ignorance and naiveté. Her lot is typical of many young women in Victorian times and it is only due to her connection with the Miller family that she is able to rise above it.
As well as gender prejudice, the novel also deals with racism. How does this relate to the theme of finding one’s own identity?
Amy’s son, Charlie, walks a tightrope between two cultures. Will he be able to bridge two disparate worlds, or will he find himself in no-man’s-land? Although he has been cocooned by his mother, she cannot protect him forever, and his experiences at St Cuthbert’s and St Peter’s force him to deal with discrimination and vilification and create an identity for himself.
What inspired the title?
The initial inspiration was a little jade figurine given to me long ago by my mother-in-law. Jade has special significance in Chinese culture – it is considered more precious than gold, a symbol of good fortune and a stone which links the earth with the heavens. In Mr Chen’s Emporium, the teenage Amy Duncan is fascinated by the intricately carved figurines displayed on the shelves and fantasises about becoming one of them, living forever in Charles Chen’s emporium, a place where anything is possible. I took the metaphor of the jade figure and expanded it in this book.
Why did you set this novel in the 1880s?
This period was such an exciting time in Australian history with the dawn of federalism, the rise of the suffragette movement and the development of the railways. On an international level, a system of electric telegraph lines and submarine cables connected the vast British Empire by cablegram. It was also an era when Sydney became an elegant city, criss-crossed by graceful shopping arcades.
The year 1885 saw the self-governing colony’s first foreign war, involving a largely volunteer force raised and funded in NSW. It was a brief episode in Australian history, now largely forgotten. The flag-waving and jingoism accompanying this campaign foreshadowed two looming conflicts – the Boer War and then the Great War, when over four hundred thousand young men (like my great-uncle, who died at Gallipoli, and my grandfather, who was gassed on the Western Front) proudly enlisted to serve Empire, King and Country.
Is it difficult to write an historical novel? How do you weave your research into the narrative?
Melding fact and fiction is a balancing act. There’s always a temptation to incorporate everything you’ve discovered, just because you find it so fascinating. Ideally the research should underpin the story without bogging it down. The historical chronology needs to be correct – things like dates for the Sudan campaign and the fact that the NSW Contingent was indeed diverted to the Manly Quarantine Station on its return.
All the same, it’s worth noting that both Mr Chen’s Emporium and The Jade Widow are fictional tales, and though I have tried to work within an accurate historical framework, there are occasions where I have taken some licence. For example, I can’t find any evidence that either Tom Roberts or Charles Conder attended Rose Scott’s Friday night salon, but of course it’s possible they did. And I don’t know whether she collected art or not. By the way, you won’t find a painting by Conder called ‘While She Was Sleeping’. I made it up!
READING GROUP QUESTIONS
Warning: These questions may contain spoilers so we recommend reading them after you finish the book.
1. What does the public reaction to the assassination of General Gordon show about the prevailing mindset? Consider Australia’s relationship as a nation to war. Do you see any parallels between the Soudan campaign of 1885 and any later conflicts?
2. Discuss the attitudes towards female doctors during the latter half of the nineteenth century. How have views changed since those days? Do gender prejudices still persist in regard to women doctors?
3. As a child of mixed race, there are many challenges ahead for Charlie. What kind of problems do you think he might encounter?
4. Amy and Eliza are ‘career women’, which was unusual in that era. What sacrifices, if any, have they had to make to pursue their vocations?
5. Eliza and Joseph have vastly different reactions to the news about Nancy’s pregnancy. What do these reactions reveal about each of them? Which viewpoint do you think would have been more common at the time?
6. Charlie wants to be a soldier but changes his mind, much to his mother’s relief. If you have read Mr Chen’s Emporium, how does this information relate to what you know about Charlie’s later life?
7. What was your initial impression of Liam O’Donnell? After Liam’s confession to Amy, did it change your view of him? Why do you think he deceived Amy? Are there any clues in the book to his motivation?
8. Do you wish that things had worked out for Amy and Liam, or is the resolution best for both of them? What would you have done in Amy’s situation? Or Liam’s?
9. What do you think will happen in Eliza’s personal life? If you have a copy of Mr Chen’s Emporium, you will find a clue inside the book.
10. What issues might Eliza encounter if she does establish her women’s hospital?
11. What do you imagine might happen to the relationship between Amy and her father? Do you foresee reconciliation or a continuation of the status quo?
12. Compare and contrast the attitudes of Amy and Eliza to love and life. Do you identify with either one?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah O’Brien is an Australian writer, visual artist and teacher. Born and raised in Sydney, she majored in French and German at the University of Sydney where she also c
ompleted a graduate Diploma of Education. She has written a number of non-fiction books, contributed articles to a variety of magazines and penned short stories.
Together with her husband and son, she divides her time between Sydney and a country cottage on the outskirts of her own personal Millbrooke.
She has written three novels, Mr Chen’s Emporium, The Jade Widow and A Place of Her Own, which are all set in Millbrooke.
www.deborahobrien.com.au
Also by Deborah O’Brien
Mr Chen’s Emporium
A Place of Her Own
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Version 2.0
The Jade Widow
9781742755595
Copyright © Deborah O’Brien, 2013
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Bantam book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at http://www.randomhouse.com.au/about/contacts.aspx
First published by Bantam in 2013
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: (ebook)
O’Brien, Deborah, author.
The jade widow/Deborah O’Brien.
ISBN 9781742755595 (ebook)
Subjects: Women – Australia – Fiction.
A823.4
Cover illustration by Christopher Nielsen
Cover design by Christabella Designs
Internal illustrations by Deborah O’Brien
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