Joseph Furphy

Joseph Furphy (Tom Collins) (1843-1912) was a novelist, best known for his book Such is Life. This work is a fictional account of the life of rural dwellers, including bullock drivers, squatters and itinerent travellers, in southern New South Wales and Victoria, during the 1880s.

The book is comprised of a series of loosely interwoven stories of the various people encountered by the narrator as he travels about the countryside. At times the prose is difficult to understand because of the use of Australian vernacular and the author's attempt to convey the accents of Scottish and Chinese personalities. This novel nevertheless provides an insight into the character of rural dwellers in Australia in the latter half of the 19th century.