Such is Life is Furphy’s great novel first published in 1903, and signalled the end of the colonial romance by its realistic portrayal of Australian rural life. Joseph Furphy (1843-1912) was born in Victoria and worked on farms, in the gold diggings and carting goods in the Riverina with a bullock team before taking employment in Shepparton where he was able to study and write.At his death in 1912 in Western Australia he was still largely unknown. A small group of admirers, including retired teacher Kate Baker, devoted themselves to promoting his work and by the 1940’s he was recognised as one of the most significant Australian writers prior to World War I.