ABSTRACT
Charlotte Yonge's spiritual priorities provided her with a distinctive interpretation of 'home' and 'settlement', wherever these may be in the world, plus a longer time-span whereby to evaluate diverse communities. This chapter focuses on two of her novels: New Ground (1868), a story about a missionary cleric and his family in Natal, and My Young Alcides (1875), where Australian colonists return to Britain and criticize the society which they rediscover. The story focuses on the behaviour and characters of three sisters, using their different characters to probe alternative viewpoints about overseas missionary work. At times, Yonge gives the impression in New Ground of positively enjoying the chance to enunciate explosive statements so that she can deactivate them by deploying alternative arguments. In this light, My Young Alcides provides a useful contrast to New Ground, as Yonge here scrutinizes the quality of British society that colonial returnees will find 'back home'.
