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Synopsis
A Dickensian tale set in early eighteenth-century Australia follows the hilarious adventures of an ex-convict and her husband after they give birth to a seal pup. A first novel. 12,500 first printing.
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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.
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- PublisherViking Adult
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 0670891525
- ISBN 13 9780670891528
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages224
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The Sooterkin
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Viking Adult, 2000
ISBN 10: 0670891525
ISBN 13: 9780670891528
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The Sooterkin
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ISBN 10: 0670891525
ISBN 13: 9780670891528
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Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. New York:: Viking Adult, 2000. First U.S. Edition. Near fine in a near fine dustjacket. No marks, folds or tears. A delightfully outrageous story flamboyantly told of a woman convict in 1821 Australia who gives birth to a seal baby. Possibly. Or is a fraud. Possibly. Whichever, she raises it along with her other son, Ned, and all is more-or-less well until a stranger arrives from America with a lucrative proposal. Unique and delightful. 1/4 cloth Viking Adult, 0670891525 US. Seller Inventory # 001108
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The Sooterkin
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ISBN 10: 0670891525
ISBN 13: 9780670891528
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Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition; First Printing. A Good Read ships from Toronto and Niagara Falls, NY - customers outside of North America please allow two to three weeks for delivery. PO gift inscription in ink on ffep. ; 8.60 X 5.60 X 1 inches; 224 pages. Seller Inventory # 70959
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