FALK, David G. - Rick; or, The Recidiviste. A Romance of Australian Life.

London, Trischler 1891. Octavo publisher's textured pink cloth blocked in black (spine and around the edges faded). Patterned endpapers browned, signs of use but a pretty good copy. ¶ Only edition of this elusive thriller set in and around Melbourne that exploits that timeless Anglo-Australian characteristic - fear of foreigners. In this case it's the Recidivistes, escaped French convicts from New Caledonia. Falk prefaces the book with an extract from the Melbourne Argus noting the disquieting increase of French convicts in Australia. Rick and the Recidiviste are not the same person, Rick is an orphaned young woman with a mysterious past and the Recidiviste is Ranq, by name and nature. The young detective Sprowde solves both problems before the most overstretched deathbed scene I've skimmed in years and a gently melancholic but happy enough ending. Falk appears to have written a fair bit for papers and journals but only two novels were published as far as I can work out. Trischler & Co. used to be the Hansom Cab Publishing Co and published a few Australian authors during its brief life.

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