Book Recommendations
The Secret River
By Kate Grenville
| 349 pages
1 recommendation
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 ... This compelling novel a universaland timeless story of love, identity and belonging.
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Jennifer Cousins
"Kate Grenville: The Secret River (2005)
Kate Grenville’s sparkling prose tells the engaging story of 19th century impoverished William Thornhill, sent with his wife Sarah from London to penal servitude in Australia for a minor theft.
Eventually, William gains his freedom and achieves a long-held dream of owning a piece of land, which he scratches out from the surrounding forest on the Hawkesbury River north-west of Sydney. But Aboriginal eyes are watching him suspiciously as a White land-grabber, only to be reassured by their women who have become friendly with Sarah.
The novel takes a nasty turn when local White racist thugs, high on alcohol, viciously attack the indigenous men with the aim of ‘extermination’ – leaving many of the Aboriginals dead or dispersed. The Governor of New South Wales, on behalf of the King of England, agreed that ‘these savages should be shown who owns the land’.
This is a moral tale, well told, about the arrogance of colonialism, and the quiet dignity of the original peoples in the face of racist brutality.
I became immersed in this book while visiting Sydney, imagining the shocking events which had taken place nearby. As a British person, not for the first time I felt uncomfortable to be viewed as a representative of our colonial past."
Kate Grenville’s sparkling prose tells the engaging story of 19th century impoverished William Thornhill, sent with his wife Sarah from London to penal servitude in Australia for a minor theft.
Eventually, William gains his freedom and achieves a long-held dream of owning a piece of land, which he scratches out from the surrounding forest on the Hawkesbury River north-west of Sydney. But Aboriginal eyes are watching him suspiciously as a White land-grabber, only to be reassured by their women who have become friendly with Sarah.
The novel takes a nasty turn when local White racist thugs, high on alcohol, viciously attack the indigenous men with the aim of ‘extermination’ – leaving many of the Aboriginals dead or dispersed. The Governor of New South Wales, on behalf of the King of England, agreed that ‘these savages should be shown who owns the land’.
This is a moral tale, well told, about the arrogance of colonialism, and the quiet dignity of the original peoples in the face of racist brutality.
I became immersed in this book while visiting Sydney, imagining the shocking events which had taken place nearby. As a British person, not for the first time I felt uncomfortable to be viewed as a representative of our colonial past."
