Cherchez les femmes: the lives and literary contribution of the first women to write crime fiction

"Cherchez la Femme" is a phrase emblematic of crime fiction. In this study it is applied to detective/mystery writing from the late 1700s through the mid-nineteenth century to the 1870s: the object being to investigate the women writers whose work helped shape and define the literary genre. Like a mystery, the intent is to "chercher les femmes", to discover "whodunnit". The extent of the female presence and influence in crime writing during the crucial years of its formation and codification has never been fully examined before. The established genre histories focus almost exclusively on work by male writers, a paternity of crime writing. Where women appear in studies of the early crime tradition, it is as fictional detectives, rather than the female authors. This study demonstrates that women writers were an active and innovative presence in crime writing even before its formal generic beginnings. They preceded such significant crime "mileposts" as Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", with the female influence on crime traceable back to the Gothic and its "mysteries". "Cherchez Les Femmes" is concerned with origins, founding mothers of genre. The writers studied are innovators, or the "firsts" of their respective national crime literatures, or who wrote more than one significant work of crime. The focus is mainly on Anglophone writers, from the UK, America, and the British colonies. Thus from Britain, the discussion includes Ann Radcliffe, Frances Trollope, Catherine Crowe, Elizabeth Gaskell, Caroline Clive, Mary Braddon and Ellen (Mrs Henry) Wood. American writers examined are Harriet Prescott Spofford, Louisa May Alcott and Metta Victor. Several chapters are devoted to the Australian authors Ellen Davitt and Mary Fortune. The study evaluates their work in the context of the emerging crime genre, with also a discussion of their lives, given that with all to some degree a personal transgression against Victorian notions of correct female behaviour was involved

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Kicking Against the Pricks. "The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction" by Justine Larbalestier. [review]

"The Battle of the Sexes" is a book about a literary genre's development, that genre having several unique features. Once literary criticism of SF was defensive, justifying its existence; now presses such as Wesleyan issue science fiction 'classics'. Similarly, studies of SF have now moved beyond the literature to the cultural context of the genre. "The Battle of the Sexes" is about writing and also reading, and the relationship between SF fans and their favourite literature. As Larbalestier shows, one aspect of this interaction was gender; and it was something about which the readership (male and female) could be highly critical.Australia Council, La Trobe University, National Library of Australia, Holding Redlich, Arts Victori

A Gum-Tree Exile: Randolph Bedford in Italy

Randolph Bedford (1868–1941) was an Australian journalist, politician and novelist, a lifelong socialist despite making a small fortune from mining. He was among the ‘brain drain’ of Australians at the turn of last century, who hoped to emulate Melba’s success in England. Many of his contemporaries, such as Henry Lawson, experienced disillusion and poverty, and returned home. Bedford differed in his versatility, and also his profound rejection of the British Empire. He could not sell his novels initially, nor his speculations to British investors, but was able to put his mining experience to use in Italy. There he became one of the first Australians to fall in love with the country. His attraction to Italy was partly aesthetic, its artistic glories, but also because it reinforced his sentimental Australian nationalism. He saw similarities in landscape, and also in climate. He wrote despatches back to the Bulletin called ‘Explorations in Civilization’, which became a book in 1916. The subtitle was ‘An Australian in Exile’, reversing the ‘Exiles We’, of the first settlers, with their nostalgia for Britain. In contrast, Bedford saw nothing good in London and the Empire. He disliked it upon first sight, and his irreverence and socialist sympathies had no place in the conservative British investment milieu. Bedford would sell two novels in Britain, via Henry Lawson (whom he helped in London) and his literary agent J. B. Pinker. But he returned home, certain expatriate life was not for him, and devoted his energies to Australia. His real success was in Explorations in Civilization, superb travel-writing, perhaps his best work. It shows his love for his country being reinforced through the perceived similarities between it and Italy, a second homeland for him. He even paid its people his highest compliment: that they were his preferred settlers for Australia

Gum-tree exile : Randolph Bedford in Italy

London has for most of Australian history served as a magnet for the gifted and aspirational. This feeling was particularly strong and optimistic at the turn of the last century, when Melba was Queen of the Opera. Many followed her example in travelling north: musicians and theatricals, but also artists, writers, and journalists. Of those who felt this siren call, very few would actually succeed. Henry Lawson would become the most famous example of this failure, with his sojourn in England something from which he would never recover, personally and artistically (Tasker & Sussex 2007)

'That wild run to London' : Henry and Bertha Lawson in England

C