'The Fortunes of Richard Mahony' is the masterpiece of the Australian writer Henry Handel Richardson. It consists of three parts: Australia Felix (1917), The Way Home (1925), and Ultima Thule (1929). The trilogy was collected in 1930 under the title by which it is now best known. Set in Australia during the gold rush of the mid-nineteenth century, the three novels trace the rise and fall of the title character against the backdrop of colonial expansion (and, indeed, contraction). The story begins in the 1850's. and follows the course Richard Mahoney's life from his days as a store-keeper in...