- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; New edition edition (7 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 184195828X
- ISBN-13: 978-1841958286
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Secret River
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Product Description
Review
"We have had to wait five years for The Secret River but the wait has been worth it... Splendidly paced, passionate and disturbing." The Times "Grenville, as ever, describes an Australia so overwhelmingly beautiful that readers will lust after its sunbaked soul too." Daily Telegraph "A sad book, beautifully written and, at times, almost unbearable with the weight of loss, competing distresses and the impossibility of making amends." Observer "Grenville's skill is to turn what could have been too obviously a representative moral fable into a rich novel of character." Sunday Telegraph"
The Independent, 1/09/06
In this dazzling novel . . . Grenville achieves a fine balance of
sympathy for the Aboriginal population of her native Australia . .
.Stunning.
sympathy for the Aboriginal population of her native Australia . .
.Stunning.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping novel that draws you in,
By
This review is from: The Secret River (Paperback)
I loved this book. I read it very quickly because it was so hard to put down. Kate Grenville writes beautifully and captures the magic of the Australian landscape.
The story is about William Thornhill who is sentenced to life as a convict in Australia in the early 19th century. The first part of the book concerns his life in Georgian England. He is born into abject poverty and although he tries to make an honest go of it, circumstances lead him into crime. He is convicted of theft and his sentence is to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. His wife and child accompany him. This part of the book is a little slow, but the momentum picks up once they get to Australia, about 75 pages in. In Australia, Thornhill discovers that the new country represents a blank slate where he can re-invent himself and break out of the cycle of poverty and crime that he has come from. He quickly wins his freedom and seizes the opportunity to get his own land and create his own farm, staking a claim to 100 seemingly vacant acres of land. However this brings him directly into contact (and potentially into conflict) with the native Aboriginal people. The book is beautifully written. It really takes you into the world of early colonial Australia and gives you a sense of how difficult a life the early settlers had. The tension builds and builds as it become obvious that some kind of conflict between Thornhill's family and the Aborigines is inevitable. It made me understand the way that good people can be conflicted about what the right thing to do is. Different settlers in the area make different decisions and as you read the book, it you wonder how you would have acted in the same circumstances. But aside from the moral dilemmas, it's just a good story: a man trying to create a new and better life for himself and his family, overcoming many hurdles and setbacks, and gradually realising that the biggest threat of all is right in front of him.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story to make the modern Briton feel guilty about the past...brilliant!,
By
This review is from: The Secret River (Paperback)
How can the story of the colonisation of Australia be told without including the ravaging details? In short, it can't and Grenveill does not hold back in her, sometimes very uncomfortable, detail.
William Thornhill, after a sad chain of occurences escapes the death sentence, which is waved over his head and is transported, along with his wife to the new colony in Australia...a sentence, which to some is far worse. Indeed in this day and age we would think "what is so bad about that?" After almost a year on board the ship they are faced with a climate and landscape, which is unforgiving and very different to their London home. Each day his wife counts the days down to when they can return to England, each day more trials envelop the emancipated settlers not least their relationship with the aborigines. The British beggars, thieves and murderers, transported from Britain face a race, which they are afraid of for their calmness and ability to seep into and out of the jungle, their ability to spear anything and their ability simply to survive. This is a brutal novel in some areas and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, but still absolutely fantastic and perfect for both male and female readers. If you only invest in one book this year, make it this one. If only to make you realise what the colonials did to the indigenous peoples of the world less than three hundred years ago.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating story,
By
This review is from: The Secret River (Paperback)
I picked this book up at a hotel in Vietnam from one of those "take one, leave one" shelves. Having never heard of the author or the book I didn't hold out much hope of enjoying it but thought it might help to pass a bumpy seven hour bus journey I had coming up the next day.
It didn't take long for me to be pulled into the story of Will Thornhill and his feisty wife Sal. A poverty stricken waterman is condemned to hang in early 19th century London but with the help of his wife has his sentence changed to transportation. Some excellent descriptive writings of London scenes and of life in New South Wales. Through hard work and luck Will takes on 100 acres of land on the edge of a river. But there are others lurking and his land which is now legally his - aboriginals. They seem to come and go, taking crops he has grown and showing no `respect' for the new owners. The author does well to view this clash from a 19th century viewpoint. It is too easy to see it from a liberal 21st century standpoint. Will's family shows no concept of what the land means to "the blacks" - there is plenty more land that they can go to, so why should they hang around here? However one of their sons, Dick, is instinctively attracted to the aboriginal people and begins to learn about their ways until forbidden by Will. (I feel more could have been made of this but perhaps Grenville didn't want to go off at too many tangents) The optimism of the Thornhill's is tinged with sadness. If Will's family is to remain on "their" land then a solution to the "molestations and depredations" must be found. We know that a tragedy awaits the native people but when it comes it is shocking and horrific. On the surface this is a good family saga. But it is actually much more than that and raised (in a subtle way) lots of issues about power, class and colonisation. How easily someone who has been a victim can become the bully! Just like the old Yeats' poem about the beggar on horseback lashing the beggar on foot. A fascinating story about the early times in New South Wales. I'm glad I picked up The Secret River. I left it in the next hotel and hope that by now someone else has chosen it!
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