David Foster, Moonlite

Narelle Shaw

Ed. by John Thieme, University of East Anglia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 9.1.1: Australian Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Susan Kossew (Monash University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1981

Places

Australia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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Generically, Foster's second novel

Moonlite

is an epic, canvassing civilisation's span from the Neolithic period of the Stone Age to the middle of the nineteenth century. Historically, Foster takes his point of departure from the Clearances of the Scottish Highlands, when the drive toward Improvement witnessed the removal of whole clans from their land to make way for the farming of Cheviot sheep by English absentee landlords. The Clearances occurred between 1782 and 1854. Foster targets the 1850s, when gold is discovered in the penal colony of New South Wales. Evicted from their land, his highlanders are swept up in the rush for gold in the New West Highlands. Narrative action in the northern hemisphere centres on the outer Hebridean island group of St Kilda, comprising Boreray (the…

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1970 words

Citation: Shaw, Narelle. "Moonlite". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 May 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3486, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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David Foster, Moonlite

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