The Secret River - Softcover

Kate Grenville; Margaret Elphinstone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841956821 ISBN 13: 9781841956824

Publisher: Canongate Books, 2006

Synopsis

After a childhood of poverty and petty crime in the slums of London, William Thornhill is sentenced in 1806 to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife, Sal, and children in tow, he arrives in a harsh land that feels at first like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a whisper that freedom can be bought, an opportunity to start afresh. Away from the infant township of Sydney, up the Hawkesbury River, are white men who have tried to do just that. But, as uninhabited as the island appears at first, Australia is full of native people, and they too claim the land as their own.

Already a best-seller in Australia, The Secret River is the dramatic and potent story of Grenville’s ancestors, who wrested a new life from the alien terrain of Australia and its native people.

About this title

About the Author:

KATE GRENVILLE was born in Sydney, Australia. Her bestselling novel The Secret River has won numerous international awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book. It was also a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. The Idea of Perfection won the Orange Prize for Fiction, Britain’s most valuable literary award. Grenville is also the author of several other novels and three books on the craft of writing. She lives in Sydney with her family. Visit her online at kategrenville.com.

From AudioFile:

For contemporary Australians, a genealogical search might well lead back to the British prisoners, circa 1800, who were exiled to the no-man's-land of New South Wales. Orange Prize winner Grenville found out little about her own family, but the heritage she creates in this historical novel is both personal and believable. Audie Award winner Simon Vance narrates with only the slightest British accent. The moment he steps into dialogue, however, the characters come alive and distinct. These men were not murderers or hardened criminals, and Vance's ability to convey sensitivity behind the gruff exterior of their voices (or, in the case of a few, the lack of sensitivity) reaches refreshingly beyond the words on the printed page. R.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1841956821
• ISBN 13: 9781841956824
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 334