20 h 38 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 20 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What remains of a man when punishment takes his freedom, his name, and the right to be believed?
Richard Devine leaves his English home after a painful family confrontation and becomes entangled in a murder accusation. Innocent, he is sent to Australia as a convict. Under the name Rufus Dawes, he hides his identity to protect his mother, while losing almost every means of proving who he is.
In Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke’s historical novel, brutal officer Maurice Frere holds power over prisoners’ lives and other people’s beliefs. Sylvia Vickers, a commandant’s daughter, brings kindness into Dawes’s world of suspicion. Through escapes, harsh punishments, and fragile loyalties, his struggle asks whether anyone will see a person where the system sees only a convict.
What you’ll discover
- A name kept hidden Follow Dawes as protecting his mother leaves him cut off from his own identity.
- Authority without answer Meet Maurice Frere, whose unchecked power shapes both suffering and what others believe.
- Kindness amid suspicion Discover how Sylvia Vickers’s bond with Dawes sets compassion against the settlement’s prejudices.
- A calculating fellow prisoner Encounter John Rex, a resourceful convict whose pursuit of his own interests threatens Dawes.
- More than an escape Feel the suspense of a struggle for recognition as well as freedom.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy big adventure stories with real history underneath, tales of the sea and the bush, and a hero whose loyalty is tested again and again.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A false name given on Hampstead Heath
- The Malabar sails with a cargo of wild beasts
- Sarah Purfoy and the fever below decks
- A mutiny fails and Dawes pays the price
- Macquarie Harbour and the man on the rock
- The Osprey is taken and five are left behind
- The wilderness and the coracle
- Port Arthur and the price of a hero's story
- The system itself is the book's villain
- Love, sacrifice and a novel built like a chain
Who’s who
- Rufus DawesBorn Richard Devine, he takes a false name on Hampstead Heath to save his mother and spends his life trying to bear what follows.
- Maurice FrereA bullying army officer and Sir Richard's nephew, he wants rank, money and power over the convicts he guards.
- Sylvia VickersA bright, brave child who grows into a troubled young woman, she cannot explain her pity for a convict.
- John RexA gentleman swindler and forger known as the Dandy, he uses every trick he knows to escape his sentence.
- Sarah PurfoySharp-eyed and devoted, she hides as a lady's maid aboard the Malabar to free the man she loves.
- Major VickersA stiff but tender-hearted officer who follows the rules and loves his daughter, he becomes commandant at Macquarie Harbour.
- James NorthA gifted, haunted clergyman at the penal stations, he wants to help prisoners but fights a weakness of his own.
- GabbettA huge, brutal convict who leads rebellions and escapes, he knows only strength and hunger.
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Pour le terme de sa vie naturelle
by Marcus Clarke · 1874
On Hampstead Heath, a young man gives a false name, and the penal colonies of Australia take his life.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readfrançais
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In short
Imagine giving up your name, your fortune and your mother's company in a single evening, all to keep her secret. That is what Richard Devine does on Hampstead Heath in May 1827, when he kneels beside a dying man.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A false name given on Hampstead Heath
The book opens in a garden at North End House, Hampstead, on the evening of 3 May 1827. Sir Richard Devine, a self-made shipbuilder, has just learned that Lord Bellasis is his son Richard's real father. In his rage he orders the young man out of the house and threatens to change his will in favour of his nephew Maurice Frere.
Richard accepts the exile to protect his mother. On the path to the Heath he sees Sir Richard hurry past like a man in a trance. A few steps later he finds Lord Bellasis dying in the heather, with a bloodied whip beside him. Before he can run for help, a dozen drinkers seize him as the killer.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1874
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 13 h 25 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Clarke, Marcus Andrew Hislop. For the Term of His Natural Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/for-the-term-of-his-natural-life.
Clarke, M. A. H. (2026). For the term of his natural life. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/for-the-term-of-his-natural-life (Original work published 1874)
Clarke, Marcus Andrew Hislop. For the Term of His Natural Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/for-the-term-of-his-natural-life.
@book{clarke2026for,
author = {Clarke, Marcus Andrew Hislop},
title = {For the Term of His Natural Life},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/for-the-term-of-his-natural-life},
note = {First published 1874}
}
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What is For the Term of His Natural Life about?
It follows Rufus Dawes, a young man who gives a false name to protect his mother and is transported as a convict. The story tracks his life through prison ships, Macquarie Harbour, Port Arthur and Norfolk Island.
Is For the Term of His Natural Life a true story?
It is a novel, but Marcus Clarke built it from official reports, surgeons' accounts and records of the Australian penal stations. The places, punishments and conditions are based on real events, though the main characters are invented.
Who are Rufus Dawes and John Rex?
Rufus Dawes is the proud, silent convict at the centre of the story. John Rex is a clever forger and swindler, called the Dandy, who is transported on the same ship and keeps planning his escape.
The author
Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke
1846–1881 · Australian novelist and poet
Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (1846–1881) was an Australian novelist, poet and journalist. He was born in London and moved to Australia in 1863. He lived in Melbourne, where he died. His novel, later known as For the Term of His Natural Life, appeared in book form in 1874.
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