George Chamier (1842-1915) wrote two New Zealand novels,

Philosopher Dick: Adventures and Contemplations of a New Zealand Shepherd

(1891) and its sequel,

A South-Sea Siren: A Novel Descriptive of New Zealand Life in the Early Days

(1895)

,

which have been praised by Lawrence Jones as “what may be considered the best New Zealand novels of the nineteenth century” (“Chamier”,

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography,

II: 84). For Jones, they were two of only three novels written in that century about New Zealand settler life that provided sustained critical-realist views of it, the third being Sigurd Wiśniowski’s

Tikera; or, Children of the Queen of Oceania,

published in Polish in 1877, yet not in an English translation until 1972 (“The Novel” 128). Chamier’s two novels are…

3994 words

Citation: Ross, John C.. "George Chamier". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 January 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14096, accessed 11 November 2024.]

14096 George Chamier 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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