| Summary: | Mary Reibey was Australia’s most successful convict-cum-businesswoman. This thesis consists of two components: an exegesis and a novella, Molly Haydock. The exegetical component outlines the known facts of Reibey’s life, reveals previously unknown details concerning Reibey, and explores the significance of her story to her descendants and the wider Australian community. It weighs the benefits of fiction against those of non-fiction, arguing that historical fiction can function as thought experiments, to facilitate reader engagement in a way that non-fiction cannot. A review of existing novels concerning Reibey demonstrates the need for a less romanticised treatment of her life than currently exists. This thesis explores Reibey’s historical context, and surveys the representation of women in Australian history (particularly but not exclusively colonial women). It traces a specific contemporary legacy of this representation–matriduxy, or the alleged domestic dominance of women in Australian families–and argues that masochistic and other cultural elements in the colonial era may have contributed to the genesis of this phenomenon. This examination of the possible origin of matriduxy is pursued in part via an analysis of Christina Stead’s modernist novel, The Man Who Loved Children. In this exegesis I outline some of the research processes and creative decision-making strategies involved in writing Molly Haydock, and identify a need for further historical research into specific aspects of Reibey’s life. I also explore issues surrounding indigeneity and frontier stories, and argue for a more balanced depiction of the spectrum of First Nations’ experiences and responses to the invasion, which ranged from victimisation to resilience and adaptation. I conclude that there is a need for more works of historical fiction accurately representing the intelligence and adaptability that have led to the current success of First Nations people. Molly Haydock synthesises the known outline of Reibey’s life with material uncovered during the research, and incorporates as much background detail concerning Reibey’s historical and geographical contexts as possible, within the narrative constraints of fiction. Molly Haydock imagines possible motivations for Reibey, and creates glimpses of what she may have seen and heard, thought and felt, during the foundational era of Australia as a modern nation.
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