One of Anne Berry's favourite books.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2006.
An epic novel of the early settlers in Australia, of the plight of the Aborigines and the crushing of ambition by the pure hardship of developing the land. We know the history but interestingly this leaves the reader to decide on the rights and wrongs as the facts are portrayed. It’s a very grand, rich, multifaceted work indeed.
Comparison: Indra Sinha, Khaled Husseini, Barbara Kingsolver.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
London, 1807.
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.
The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that `unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them.
Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life ...
The Secret River features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Secret River is available in Paperback, , Paperback (b Format)
The Secret River was written by Kate Grenville and published by Nick Hern Books
The Secret River has 128 pages
Yes it is part of NHB Modern Plays series
£9.89
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