000 02311cam a22003133u 4500
001 4946
003 UtSlPG
005 20260610133132.0
006 m
007 cr n
008 260607r2004||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aPR
100 1 _aHume, Fergus,
_d1859-1932
245 1 0 _aMadame Midas
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2004
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2004-01-01
508 _aText file produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team HTML file produced by David Widger
520 _a"Madame Midas" by Fergus Hume is a novel written in the late 19th century that explores themes of ambition, betrayal, and the consequences of wealth. The story opens with vivid descriptions of a desolate Australian coastline and introduces two men, one a cunning Frenchman and the other his mute companion, who have escaped from a French prison. Their arrival on this inhospitable land sets the stage for their pursuit of fortune, particularly in the context of gold mining, highlighting the desperate and often treacherous nature of their ambitions. The opening of "Madame Midas" presents a dramatic and atmospheric setting, introducing the characters in two parallel narrative arcs. Initially, we follow the escapees as they arrive at the Australian shores, driven by dreams of wealth and freedom. This is juxtaposed with the backstory of Robert Curtis’s daughter, Mrs. Villiers, who has rebuilt her life and achieved respectability as a gold mine owner after a tumultuous marriage. The stage is set for conflict as her estranged husband returns seeking to reclaim power over her, while new characters enter her life, indicating the intertwined fates driven by their aspirations and the quest for fortune that defines their existence in the gold-rush era of Australia. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _nOriginal publication data not identified
653 _aAustralia -- Fiction
653 _aMineral industries -- Australia -- Fiction
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4946
999 _c46988
_d46988