Cirrus@Austlit

Harris's introduction briefly describes the publication and reception of the Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill and discusses some of the themes explored in the novel. Harris demonstrates that the book was very well received by contemporary reviewers, and argues that its lack of recognition by later critics is due to the novel's subordination to texts from the Bulletin school. Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill is important, however, because of its radical treatment of the affluent bourgeois milieu in the city and its dramatization of the breakdown of English social barriers in Australia.