They came to give lecture tours and make money, to sort out difficult children sent here to be out of the way; for health, for science, to escape demanding spouses back home, or simply to satisfy a sense of adventure. Brief Encounters reveals sudden flashes of insight into the authors themselves, but also into the Australian nation and the Australian character: Anthony Trollope on our cultural cringe; Joseph Conrad‘s vision of Sydney’s criminal ‘underbelly’;  Rudyard Kipling on Australia’s sad, second-hand Americanism and Arthur Conan Doyle on the ‘dark stain’ of while Australia’s treatment of Aboriginals.

In 1890, for example, Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny arrived at Circular Quay after a dramatic sea voyage only to be refused entry at the Victoria, one of Sydney’s most elegant hotels. Stevenson threw a tantrum, but was forced to go to a cheaper, less fussy establishment. Next day, the Victoria’s manager, recognising the famous author from a picture in the paper, rushed to find Stevenson and beg him to return. He did not.

Brief Encounters is a feast of irony, idiosyncrasy, and occasional insight from Charles Darwin‘s fascination with the misnamed lion-ant through to Arthur Conan Doyle’s missionary spiritualism. The liveliness of these stories, along with Susannah’s infectious enthusiasm, is evident in every chapter of the book.