The authoress of "We Of the Never-Never," Mrs. Aeneas Gunn, is now resident in Victoria, and the story is really of her own life at Elsey Station in the "Territory." Married on January 31, 1901, Mrs. Gunn set out for her new home three days later. She arrived at Elsey in February; and from that time onwards until her final departure from the Territory, the events of the daily round were chronicled by her assiduous pen. Transmuted by the fire of her genius into the gold of literature, they stand to-day, and will stand long, as a sympathetic, true, and striking picture of North Australian life.
Quite recently the Melbourne "Argus" conducted a plebiscite upon the question of the relative merits of Australian novelists. The result placed Mrs. Gunn third upon the roll of honour, the only two to gain precedence over her being Marcus Clarke and "Rolf Boldrewood." It was a verdict that speaks well for the taste and judgment of those who participated in it; but, nevertheless, there are many who believe that "We of the Never-Never" is a finer and a better book, both as a novel and as literature, than elther Clarke's grim story of "the system," or "Robbery Under Arms."
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 September 1927
[Thanks to the National Library of Australia's newspaper digitisation project for this piece.]
