Poison of Polygamy

<p>Serialised 1909–10 <em>The Poison of Polygamy </em>is a rare gem of Australian literature.</p><p>The first novel of the Chinese Australian experience it is a roller-coaster tale of blackmail murder betrayal and even thylacine attack partly based on real people places and events. Revealing the human face of migration between imperial China and colonial Australia it recounts the story of a man from southern China who tries his luck on the Victorian goldfields the wife he leaves behind and their eventual fraught reunion.</p><p>In this bilingual edition Australia’s and possibly the West’s earliest Chinese-language novel is presented in English translation for the first time. Illuminating introductions explore the work’s historical cultural and linguistic context and establish its unique significance in Australia’s literary and social history.</p>