Madame Midas: Text Classics

‘Villains, fallen women and the enigmatic Madame Midas herself—who could resist Hume’s brilliant characters?’ – Lee Tulloch
‘Hume’s book offers a glimpse of another age of thriller writing, enriched by a study of a jarring, vibrant, deadly Melbourne.’ * Courier-Mail *
‘A rare treasure…Madame Midas herself is one of the most memorable Victorian heroines.’ * Stephen Knight *
A very accessible, entertaining and enlightening story…Historically significant and highly readable, Hume provides us with fascinating glimpses of the early days of white settlement.’ * Toowoomba Chronicle *

Fergus Hume (Author)

Fergus Hume was born in England in 1859. His family soon immigrated to New Zealand, where Hume qualified as a lawyer, being admitted to the bar in 1885. He moved to Melbourne in the same year.

Desperate to become a playwright but having no success, Hume decided to write a murder novel instead. When he couldn’t find a publisher for The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, he published it himself. It was a sensation, selling over twenty thousand copies in Melbourne. With a hit on his hands, Hume sold his copyright to the Hansom Cab Publishing Company in London for fifty pounds. The book was a phenomenal success, but Hume never saw another penny from his bestseller. It may have influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes adventure.

Hume moved back to England in 1888 after the publication of his second novel, Madame Midas. He embarked on a career that produced over 130 novels. He never became a famous playwright, but he did co-write the theatrical adaptation of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, which played in London for five hundred nights. The story was also filmed three times in the silent era. Fergus Hume died in 1932.

Clare Wright (Introducer)

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster, and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia, and the media. Clare is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University.

She is the author of five works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (winner of the 2014 Stella Prize) and You Daughters of Freedom. Her latest book, and the final installment in her Democracy Trilogy, is the highly acclaimed The Bark Petitions, which won the Australian Political Book of the Year, Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction, and NT History Book Award. It was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Victorian Premiers Literary Awards, The Age Book of the Year Awards, and ABIA Awards, and was longlisted for a Walkley Award and the NIB Literary Award.

Clare has written and presented history documentaries for ABC TV and is Associate Producer of the feature film One Mind One Heart, written and directed by Larissa Behrendt, which won the NSW Digital History Award. She also hosts the ABC Radio National history podcast, Shooting the Past, co-hosts the La Trobe University podcast Archive Fever (with Yves Rees), and is Executive Producer of Hey History!, the first Australian history podcast designed for use in the classroom.

In 2020, Clare was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours list for ‘services to literature and to historical research’. Clare is Chair of the National Museum of Australia Council and a past Board Director of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.