The recluse / Evelyn Juers.
Series: Giramondo shortsPublication details: Artarmon, N.S.W. : Giramondo Publishing, 2012.Description: 153 pages ; 17 cmISBN:- 9781920882884 (paperback)
- Donnithorne, Eliza Emily, approximately 1827-1886
- Donnithorne, Eliza Emily, 1821-1886
- Donnithorne, Eliza Emily, c1827-1886
- Eccentrics and eccentricities -- New South Wales -- Sydney -- Biography
- Women -- New South Wales -- Sydney -- Biography
- Eccentrics and eccentricities -- Australia -- Biography
- 'The Nib" Waverley Library Award for Literature Nominations (2012)
- Australian
- 994.4103092 23
- CT9991.D66 J84 2012
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Biography | 994.410 JUE | Available | 057796 |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 148-153)
Evelyn Juerss study of reclusion focuses on Eliza Emily Donnithorne, long considered the model for Charles Dickenss character Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. For most of her life she lived in isolation in a large house in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown. It was said that she had been jilted at the altar and become a recluse, wearing her wedding dress and keeping her wedding banquet set until the day she died. But who was she? The Recluse is the story of Juers quest to find the elusive Eliza Donnithorne, who was born in South Africa, and lived in India, England and Australia. Like House of Exile it features a cast of colourful historical characters, authors, convicts, sailors and servants, journalists and bloggers, and makes a powerful case for solitude as a dignified way of life.
