The Secret RiverThis Man Booker Award Finalist and Commonwealth Prize-winner is an “unforgettable” tale of crime and survival in colonial Australia (Chicago Tribune). In 1806 William Thornhill, an illiterate English bargeman and a man of quick temper but deep compassion, steals a load of wood and, as a part of his lenient sentence, is deported, along with his beloved wife, Sal, to the New South Wales colony in what would become Australia. The Secret River is the tale of William and Sal’s deep love for their small, exotic corner of the new world, and William’s gradual realization that if he wants to make a home for his family, he must forcibly take the land from the people who came before him. Acclaimed around the world, The Secret River is a “magnificent” work of historical fiction that “pulls us ever deeper into a time when one community’s opportunity spelled another’s doom” (The New Yorker). |
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Common terms and phrases
ain't baby bark Bermondsey Blackwood boat Brazil wood breath bugger called caught chest cliffs Cobham Hall corn cried dark Dick dirt emancipist eyes face feel feet fingers fire forest glanced gone grey ground gunwale hand hard Hawkesbury head hear heard Hope hung Kate Grenville knew land laughed leave legs light looked Loveday Lucas mangroves Middleton mouth never night packet trade patch pick Port Jackson pushed ridge river rock Sagitty Sal's Secret River seemed seen shadow shoulder shouted side skiff skin Smasher smell smile smoke sound South Wales spear spoke stared stick stone stood stopped Sydney Sydney Cove thing Thornhill felt Thornhill saw Thornhill thought ticket of leave tide took trees turned Twist voice waiting wanted watching wharf William Thornhill Willie wind woman words
References to this book
Convincing Ground: Learning to Fall in Love with Your Country Bruce Pascoe No preview available - 2007 |
Convincing Ground: Learning to Fall in Love with Your Country Bruce Pascoe No preview available - 2007 |