7.8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publication date 1941 Pages 499 pp Originally published 1941 Genre Historical Fiction Country Australia | 3.9/5 Goodreads Series The Timeless Land Media type Print Followed by Storm of Time Publisher Macmillan Publishers Preceded by The little company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Eleanor Dark books, Historical Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Timeless Land (1941) is a work of historical fiction by Eleanor Dark (1901–1985). The novel The Timeless Land is the first of The Timeless Land trilogy of novels about European settlement and exploration of Australia.
Contents
Story and characters
The narrative is told from English and Aboriginal points of view. The novel begins with two Aboriginal men watching the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Harbour on 26 January 1788. The novel describes the first years of the colony and the vindictive diplomacy of captain Arthur Phillip, famine and the devastating effects of exotic disease on the previously unexposed Aboriginal population. The novel ends in a dramatic climax when troops encounter an escaped convict. Dark conducted her historical research at the Mitchell Library in Sydney. Watkin Tench, author of The Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, is a key character in The Timeless Land. The book is regarded as a classic by fans of Australian literature and has been reprinted in 2002 and has a modest following. The novel was on the curriculum for high school students in Australia in the mid-twentieth century.
The subsequent books in The Timeless Land trilogy are Storm of Time (1948) and No Barrier (1953).
Television production
A television series was produced and broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, premiering on 4 September 1980. It was written by Peter Yeldham, based on the Eleanor Dark novels, and starred David Gulpilil as Bennelong and English actress Nicola Pagett (star of the British series Upstairs, Downstairs) as Mrs. Mannion. Other actors included: Bruce Smeaton and John Frawley.
Production of the series had first been announced in 1976 but was postponed due to the large budget required.
International rights to the series were sold to Paramount for $1 million. Shooting took place in Kellyville, an outer suburb of Sydney.
The 8 episodes of The Timeless Land commenced with a movie-length premiere:
- A ship with white wings
- Unsuitable company
- The fabric of liberty
- Double standards
- Smell of rebellion
- A declaration of war
- Prisoner at the bar
- A new order
In 2006 the Australian Broadcasting Commission released the television series on 3 DVDs, the episodes totalling 424 minutes.