The Secret River
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4.1 • 32 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
*NEW NOVEL RESTLESS DOLLY MAUNDER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024*
FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AND WOMEN’S PRIZE-WINNING AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST
London, 1806. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly.
His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. Soon Thornhill, a man no better or worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grenville's Australian bestseller, which won the Orange Prize, is an eye-opening tale of the settlement of New South Wales by a population of exiled British criminals. Research into her own ancestry informs Grenville's work, the chronicle of fictional husband, father and petty thief William Thornhill and his path from poverty to prison, then freedom. Crime is a way of life for Thornhill growing up in the slums of London at the turn of the 19th century until he's caught stealing lumber. Luckily for him, a life sentence in the penal colony of New South Wales saves him from the gallows. With his wife, Sal, and a growing flock of children, Thornhill journeys to the colony and a convict's life of servitude. Gradually working his way through the system, Thornhill becomes a free man with his own claim to the savage land. But as he transforms himself into a trader on the river, Thornhill realizes that the British are not the first to make New South Wales their home. A delicate coexistence with the native population dissolves into violence, and here Grenville earns her praise, presenting the settler aboriginal conflict with equanimity and understanding. Grenville's story illuminates a lesser-known part of history at least to American readers with sharp prose and a vivid frontier family.
Customer Reviews
Dickensian…….
It is a word that came to me in the first London section of Kate Grenville's book. Many of the characters in the Australian section feel Dickensian eg Ott maybe not real but memorable.
The Thornhills becoming rich and prosperous seemed to me odd. It is announced in the chapter after the chapter concerning the Australians from England attacking the native born Australians.
The next chapter the author announces our protagonists are rich. I've heard of the American dream but this could be the Australian dream.
Light read not too difficult
A good light read not too lengthy. Gives a glimpse into how Australia was formed when convicts were transported for life there and the uneasy relationship with the Aborigines that are the native Australians. Very good historical fiction read for those interested in this type of book. You get a good idea on what London was like in the 18th century.
Virtuous
I really appreciate this book, and full of admiration for Kate Grenville for writing this book , for giving us an insight to the history of Australia. I have never heard of Ms. Grenville until I read her interview about writing this book. I, then purchased this book. Kate is now one of my favourite writers. I love her passion and honesty of her stories.