Selected Stories of Morley Roberts by Morley Roberts

A near fatal bout of appendicitis left Roberts almost ruined, as he was unable to work for months. Gissing died in 1903, and in 1909 his stepdaughter died following an appendix operation. Thereafter, Roberts enjoyed only sporadic happiness. As divorce was expensive and morally unacceptable, they pursued a hopeless affair for years until Alice was released by her husband’s death.

In 1889 Roberts had fallen in love with Alice Hamlyn, a woman with three children and a violent husband. A journalist in the Melbourne Age wrote: “He is a tall, good looking man, apparently on the sunny side of 40, looks as little like a writer and as much like a man of action as one could wish.” Roberts might have marketed himself as a man’s man, yet he was also a keen supporter of women’s suffrage and female emancipation. His books were well reviewed, critics clearly impressed by this author whose life was as adventurous as his tales.

In 1890 he published his first novel, In Low Relief, and this marked the beginning of three decades of literary success. Living a bohemian existence in Chelsea lodgings, Roberts wrote articles about his itinerant days and sold them to magazines. It was published in 1887 and proved a modest success for the new author. He immediately started work on The Western Avernus, completing it in just 4 weeks. Gissing suggested that he try writing about his adventures. He laboured on the Canadian Pacific Railway before returning home via San Francisco.īased in London again and aged 28, Roberts lacked any structure or direction. His varied jobs included herdsman, tree-feller, miner, and farmhand. For the next three years he worked and tramped across the Texan plains right up to the mountains of British Columbia. After five years, he was back on a boat, this time headed for America. After two years, he signed up as an able seaman on a London-bound ship, refusing to see lack of experience as a barrier.īack home, Roberts worked in the civil service – not an ideal role for a man used to the Australian outback and the open seas. Instead he pursued a very different education, travelling to Australia and working on sheep stations as a sheepshearer, sheepherder, and boundary rider.

Meanwhile Roberts gave up his studies following an argument with his father.

Gissing was famously expelled and sent to prison for stealing to support a prostitute with whom he had fallen in love. After gaining a scholarship to Owen’s College in Manchester, Roberts met the author George Gissing, the beginning of a long-lasting friendship. Roberts was born in London on 29 December 1857 to William Henry Roberts, a tax inspector, and his wife Catherine.

Selected Stories of Morley Roberts by Morley Roberts