The Sooterkin - Softcover

Tom Gilling

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140288112 ISBN 13: 9780140288117

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

The Sooterkin, a novel "as fantastical as anything in the writings of Garca Mrquez," has earned comparisons to the work of John Irving and Peter Carey. In the winter of 1821 a seal pup is born to ex-convict Sarah Dyer and her husband, William, a dishonorably discharged soldier. As the tale spreads it becomes town gossip, newspaper story, scientific topic, theological dispute, and--ultimately--a profitable venture. A cavalcade of superbly drawn Dickensian characters arrives to assist and investigate mother and child. Among them are the indelicate and incredulous midwife, Mrs. Jakes; the corpulent and debt-ridden Reverend Kidney, who believes it to be a virgin birth; Dr. Benjamin Banes, a physician who hopes to display the child for financial gain; and the fervent scientist Mr. Sculley, who dubs the infant a "sooterkin" such as the mythical creatures born in past times to Dutch women.

The Sooterkin displays the misery of Australia's early colonial days with a wry black humor and a rich, quirky, accomplished prose that add up to a delicious summer frolic.

About this title

About the Author

Tom Gilling, born in England, emigrated to Australia at the age of twenty-two. His journalism has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Bulletin, and Rolling Stone. The Sooterkin, his first novel, received universal Australian acclaim and has been short-listed for the prestigious Vance Palmer Fiction Award. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

From Kirkus Reviews

An Australian newcomer vividly evokes a topsy-turvy world Down Under where convicts become respectable citizens, mammals lay eggs, and a seal born to a woman stirs up a rich broth of confusion.As much a gentle satire on Australia's less-than-respectable past as an unsentimental tribute to unlikely family devotion, the story is set in Hobart, the capital of Van Diemen’s Land (today called Tasmania) during the early 19th century. It covers the months following the birth of Arthur, a seal pup, to former convict Sarah Dyer and her husband William, a dishonorably discharged soldier. Hobart is a rough, hard-drinking, rumor-ridden place populated by convicts transported from Britain, remittance men, and fortune-seekers. Almost everyone has a shady past. Reverend Kidney is actually a layman who took the job of chaplain because he was heavily in debt. His housekeeper and the town's midwife, Mrs. Jakes, is a convicted abortionist. The country surrounding Hobart is plagued by bands of outlaws who rob and plunder the farmsteads, murdering farmers and unwary travelers. When Sarah gives birth to Arthur, with Mrs. Jakes in attendance, she and elder son Ned lovingly embrace the new addition. William, a habitual drunk, is less certain. The birth is a sensation in a place hungry for novelty. The chaplain believes the baby has been sent by God; Mr. Sculley, a would-be scientist, thinks it is a Sooterkin, a mysterious hybrid creature; and the locals just want to ogle it. Sarah, a loving but practical mother, capitalizes on their curiosity by charging for a look-see. When Arthur starts singing, weak-willed William succumbs to the blandishments of an entrepreneurial doctor who offers to buy him. Loyal Ned then embarks on a dangerous and picaresque search to find his brother.A literate and imaginative, if sometimes strained, riff on the provocative power of the unusual in a strange and distant place. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0140288112
• ISBN 13: 9780140288117
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224