The Second Bridegroom (First Edition)

The Australian author of Captivity Captive and Kisses of the Enemy has fashioned a strange, haunting narrative that is most successful when it is most elusive, but is oddly unconvincing in its plot details. Its protagonist is a young English printer convicted of forgery and sent to early-19th-century Australia. After killing a fellow convict who has brutalized him, he flees into the bush, where he is nurtured by a group of aborigines; and when they fall upon the new settlers and burn their camp, he is recaptured. The story is ostensibly written by the convict in captivity, partly as a demented love letter to the master settler's wife, whom he has glimpsed from afar; in a kind of postscript of would-be crushing irony, she gives her side of the story. This conceit and the mysterious resurrection of the murdered man are devices out of key with the rest, a beautifully written study of solitude and a poetic meditation on the meaning of civilization. Hall's prose, of exquisite flexibility and lucidity, yields countless memorable images, making the novel's sometimes clumsy apparatus all the more dismaying.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A compelling, lyrical tale of a ne'er-do-well's arrival in 19th-century New South Wales, the first novel of a trilogy ending with Hall's previously published Captivity Captive. In Captivity Captive and Kisses of the Enemy (both 1988), Hall's graceful prose frequently collapsed under sprawling plot lines and overwrought themes leading, in the main, to uneven offerings. Here, the author brings his plot and ambitions under tighter control, delivering a focused and engaging adventure with literary trimmings. A young 19th-century English printer forges a document attributed to 15th-century William Caxton. Known only as FJ--the initials embedded in his forgery--the young printer is arrested and sent in fetters to New South Wales, shackled to an abusive fellow prisoner, Gabriel Dean. En route, Gabriel Dean subjects the young Englishman to unceasing abuse until FJ finally murders his tormentor. On arrival in New South Wales, FJ escapes from his master, Atholl, and disappears into the cover of surrounding jungle. Taken under the protective care of a group of aborigines, FJ recovers his health and witnesses the murder of Atholl. Further improbabilities result in the reappearance of Gabriel Dean--not dead after all--who drags FJ back to Atholl's camp, and FJ's final escape from the authorities. An old-fashioned adventure tale, in short, decked out in lyrical prose and brought up to date with a sensitive view of aboriginal culture. More fun than Hall normally allows--and a major advance on his previous work. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This novel by one of Australia's leading writers is the first in a trilogy whose concluding volume has already been published. The mythic overtones of that work, Captivity Captive ( LJ 1/88), continue here. Indeed, its very title is derived from an old Manx myth. On the surface it is the tale of a young forger who, in 1838, is transported to Australia, only to escape into the bush after killing (so he thinks) a fellow convict. Adopted by a group of aborigines who treat him with almost religious reverence, he remains a solitary in the midst of the group, wandering dreamlike through this strange new land until, after two years, he allows himself to be recaptured. The book, addressed to the wife of his former master, provides him the opportunity to reflect on his past and how this experience has influenced his worldview. If at times a bit forced, it remains an intricately patterned, poetically wrought tale, using the unique elements of the Australian experience to explore more universal themes--the nature of "civilization," justice, religion, art, beauty, and humanity's need for companionship. Highly recommended for collections of serious fiction. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/91.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.