Rosa Campbell Praed

Rosa Campbell Praed ( Murray-Prior; 27 March 1851 – 10 April 1935) was an Australian author. Born in Bromelton, Queensland, in 1851, she grew up on properties across rural Queensland. She married in 1872 and spent two unhappy years on a cattle station on Curtis Island before moving to England with her husband. She became a successful novelist and published more than 45 books over the course of her career. After separating from her husband in the late 1890s, she lived for more than thirty years with a medium named Nancy Harward and developed an interest in reincarnation, spiritualism, and the occult. Praed has been described by the scholar Elizabeth Webby as "the first Australian-born novelist to achieve a significant international reputation".

About half of Praed's novels are set in Australia or have an Australian connection. She wrote romances that contrasted Australian and English culture and values, as well as exploring the treatment of Aboriginal Australians and the women's experiences in the Australian bush. Praed's writing often featured unhappy wives and reluctant brides, and explored the mistreatment of women in marriage. Her writing was at times controversial due to her ambivalent portrayal of marriage and her depictions of taboo topics including spousal abuse, marital rape, and divorce. Her later work drew on her interest in theosophy and reincarnation, and often featured supernatural themes.

Biography

Early life Rosa Praed was born Rosa Caroline Murray-Prior on 27 March 1851 in Bromelton, Queensland. She was the third child of the pastoralist Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior and his wife Matilda .