Physical description

Hard cover book. The Way Home
Author: Henry Handel Richardson
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Date: 1925
Further Information: Black Cloth embossed hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in Gilt The spine has a Library label with an inscription.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine with typed text PAT 823 RIC
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library. Front loose end paper has a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Front loose end paper has a stamp from Corangamite Regional Library Service. Flyleaf has a stamp from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute

Summary

The Way Home (1925) is the second volume of Henry Handel Richardson's trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, published by William Heinemann Ltd, following Australia Felix (1917) and preceding Ultima Thule (1929). The three were later collected into a single volume in 1930 under the trilogy's overall title. The novel continues the story of Richard Mahony, an Irish-born doctor who made and lost a fortune on the Victorian goldfields. After years of struggle in the Australian outback, Richard Mahony returns to his native England to live out his years in comfort and quiet. Although his dreams have been realised, he soon discovers the prejudice with which the wealthy view men who went across the world to make their fortunes. Unable to gain a foothold in the land of his birth, he makes the difficult decision to return to Australia. It's a heavily autobiographical work, as Richardson built the character of Mahony from her own father, a doctor whose life followed a very similar arc, including a descent into mental illness.