'A Creature of the Night: An Italian Enigma' is a mystery-supernatural novel by Fergus Hume. The story follows the narrator, a member of the Cranstons family, who travels to Italy with a few hundred pounds and a dream of pursuing an operatic career. He settles in Milan and takes singing lessons from Maestro Angello, who later goes to Verona for a change of scenery. The novel sets the scene for a gripping mystery with supernatural elements, as the narrator uncovers secrets about Angello's past and encounters a mysterious and possibly dangerous creature of the night.
Australian Books and Authors in the American Marketplace 1840s–1940s explores how Australian writers and their works were present in the United States before the mid twentieth century to a much greater degree than previously acknowledged. Drawing on fresh archival research and combining the approaches of literary criticism, print culture studies and book history, David Carter and Roger Osborne demonstrate that Australian writing was transnational long before the contemporary period. In mapping Australian literature’s connections to British and US markets, their research challenges established understandings of national, imperial and world literatures. Carter and Osborne examine how Australian authors, editors and publishers engaged productively with their American counterparts, and how American readers and reviewers responded to Australian works. They consider the role played by British publishers and agents in taking Australian writing to America, and how the international circulation of new literary genres created new opportunities for novelists to move between markets. Some of these writers, such as Christina Stead and Patrick White, remain household names; others who once enjoyed international fame, such as Dale Collins and Alice Grant Rosman, have been largely forgotten. The story of their books in America reveals how culture, commerce and copyright law interacted to create both opportunities and obstacles for Australian writers.
