Cirrus@Austlit

'Coungeau's life story is of interest on several different levels. Her remaking of herself in Queensland from lady's companion and parlour maid into successful businesswoman, poet and patron of the arts demonstrates the transformative possibilities for women of migration to the colonies. Her involvement in commerce and culture over many decades also sheds light on Brisbane life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finally, Coungeau is of interest because her articulation of an urban, cosmopolitan, female aesthetic in her writing relies heavily on notions of race and culture that are discredited today' (author's abstract).