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The Fortunes of Richard Mahony

This sweeping chronicle follows the fortunes and misfortunes of a single family across multiple generations. Set against the dramatic backdrop of colonial Australia, the narrative explores themes of ambition, loss, love, and resilience. Readers are drawn into the complexities of human relationships and the arduous journey of building a new life in a challenging land.

The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony
Australia Felix

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    Australia Felix

    • 382 pages
    • 14 hours of reading

    Set against the backdrop of Australia's gold mining boom, the story follows Richard Mahony, whose aspirations clash with the rugged realities of his environment. Initially a struggling storekeeper, he marries Polly Turnham, who encourages him to pursue a medical career. As Mahony's practice thrives, the narrative delves into themes of mental decline and familial responsibility, highlighting Polly's sacrifices. This novel, the first in a celebrated trilogy, offers a poignant exploration of personal ambition and the impact of societal expectations on mental health.

    Australia Felix
  • He had never got within measurable distance of what he called life, at all...deep down in him, he knew, was an enormous residue of vitality...It was like a buried treasure, jealously kept for the event of his one day catching up with life: not the bare scramble for a living that here went by that name, but Life with a capital L. Richard Mahony is a restless man. Ballarat, England, Melbourne, Europe, the bush: elsewhere is always better. Searching for a place, a meaning, a life, Mahony and his wife Mary journey from wealth to poverty, order to chaos, sanity to the asylum. The Fortunes of Richard Mahony is a towering novel.

    The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony