Marie Bjelke Petersen's 'virile story' : jewelled nights, gender instability, and the bush

Jewelled Nights was the fourth of nine novels by Bjelke Petersen,2 all of them popular romances focussing on a 'heroine's quest for domestic fulfilment, love and a sense of self-determination'. The author's latter-day obscurity belies a career that was successful in terms of critical recognition, popular acclaim, and financial rewards.