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fourtriplezed's review against another edition
4.0
I have had the pleasure of reading author Rohan Wilson’s first two novels in quick succession and am glad I have. The first, The Roving Party, was a very good historical fiction based on actual events that portrayed the brutality Van Diemans Land during that colony’s Black Wars. Such was its impact I started this one immediately.
To Name Those Lost brings back the boy from The Roving Party, Thomas Toosey, as a now old man looking for redemption after a brutal life. We follow his quest in his search for his lost son. There is a strong cast of characters that come onto the story, each with a big part to play in Toosey’s search.
Rohan Wilson has again somehow written bleak but beautiful prose in what is a more narrative driven approach than his debut novel. I would suggest that those that also like a defined story may find this novel more to their liking than the debut that gave the reader more to think about in thematic terms.
That is not meant to be criticism of this book. There are certainly themes such as (the above mentioned) redemptive qualities, love for family and the worth of revenge. And like his previous novel man’s inhumanity to his fellow man looms large. As with a well written historical novel the reader must learn from the events. I knew nothing of the Launceston Railway Riots 1874 that play a big part in the telling of this tale. Oh for a time machine!
http://launcestonhistory.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/142Feb20141.pdf
Recommended to those that enjoy very good historical novels and to those that have been to sleepy Launceston and had no idea of its historical past.
To Name Those Lost brings back the boy from The Roving Party, Thomas Toosey, as a now old man looking for redemption after a brutal life. We follow his quest in his search for his lost son. There is a strong cast of characters that come onto the story, each with a big part to play in Toosey’s search.
Rohan Wilson has again somehow written bleak but beautiful prose in what is a more narrative driven approach than his debut novel. I would suggest that those that also like a defined story may find this novel more to their liking than the debut that gave the reader more to think about in thematic terms.
That is not meant to be criticism of this book. There are certainly themes such as (the above mentioned) redemptive qualities, love for family and the worth of revenge. And like his previous novel man’s inhumanity to his fellow man looms large. As with a well written historical novel the reader must learn from the events. I knew nothing of the Launceston Railway Riots 1874 that play a big part in the telling of this tale. Oh for a time machine!
http://launcestonhistory.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/142Feb20141.pdf
Recommended to those that enjoy very good historical novels and to those that have been to sleepy Launceston and had no idea of its historical past.
rodhunt's review against another edition
4.0
A very good read. Rohan Wilson brings to life the hard reality of colonial Tasmanian life and death like no other author I have read. Rohan Wilson is an extraordinary talent. Highly recommended, as is his Roving Party.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
‘Her head hit the floorboards, bounced, and a fog of ash billowed, thrown so by the motion of her spade.’
It is 1874. Tasmania is in transition from its penal origins: transportation ceased in 1853. But while the ruling classes are focussed on the structure and law of their society and increasing their wealth, there are a significant number of people struggling for their existence. Many are former convicts. In early 1874, pandemonium broke out in Launceston. The government had imposed a levy on those living near the Deloraine-Launceston railway line after the collapse of the company that built it. Those who riot cause damage, but cannot prevail against the large and well-armed police force.
‘The rioting was confined to the rabble and larrikin classes, scarcely any ratepayer taking part.’ (The Mercury, 9 February 1874)
This is the background to the events in Rohan Wilson’s novel. William Toosey is 12 years old when his mother dies suddenly. He writes to his father Thomas, asking for help. Thomas Toosey (who appeared as a boy in Rohan Wilson’s first novel ‘The Roving Party’) is a grey-haired labourer who has spent 10 years in the Port Arthur Penitentiary, convicted of a dreadful crime. He has stolen £200 in banknotes from Fitheal Flynn, with whom he was in prison, and his three daughters. In short, although Toosey sets off for Launceston to find his son, he appears to be beyond redemption. Flynn, accompanied by one of his daughters, disguised as a male and covered by a hood, sets off after Toosey. Sure, he wants his money back but there’s more to the story than that. Flynn and Toosey are both fathers seeking to make amends for their actions in the past by making provision for their children. Toosey is desperate to find William, and acutely aware of the dangers that befall orphans in the streets. Flynn is keen to track down Toosey: he wants his own retribution.
Rohan Wilson brings the Launceston of the 1870s to life: from Cimitiere Street through the City Park to Princes Square, along Brisbane Street and Charles Street, across Windmill Hill and then later back through the town and across the river into the slums of Invermay. The place and street names remain, and much of the landscape is recognisable today. It’s a dark, bleak story brilliantly told, set in a dark time in Launceston’s colonial history.
‘History is the art by which we live our lives, he said. You have your history and I have mine.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
It is 1874. Tasmania is in transition from its penal origins: transportation ceased in 1853. But while the ruling classes are focussed on the structure and law of their society and increasing their wealth, there are a significant number of people struggling for their existence. Many are former convicts. In early 1874, pandemonium broke out in Launceston. The government had imposed a levy on those living near the Deloraine-Launceston railway line after the collapse of the company that built it. Those who riot cause damage, but cannot prevail against the large and well-armed police force.
‘The rioting was confined to the rabble and larrikin classes, scarcely any ratepayer taking part.’ (The Mercury, 9 February 1874)
This is the background to the events in Rohan Wilson’s novel. William Toosey is 12 years old when his mother dies suddenly. He writes to his father Thomas, asking for help. Thomas Toosey (who appeared as a boy in Rohan Wilson’s first novel ‘The Roving Party’) is a grey-haired labourer who has spent 10 years in the Port Arthur Penitentiary, convicted of a dreadful crime. He has stolen £200 in banknotes from Fitheal Flynn, with whom he was in prison, and his three daughters. In short, although Toosey sets off for Launceston to find his son, he appears to be beyond redemption. Flynn, accompanied by one of his daughters, disguised as a male and covered by a hood, sets off after Toosey. Sure, he wants his money back but there’s more to the story than that. Flynn and Toosey are both fathers seeking to make amends for their actions in the past by making provision for their children. Toosey is desperate to find William, and acutely aware of the dangers that befall orphans in the streets. Flynn is keen to track down Toosey: he wants his own retribution.
Rohan Wilson brings the Launceston of the 1870s to life: from Cimitiere Street through the City Park to Princes Square, along Brisbane Street and Charles Street, across Windmill Hill and then later back through the town and across the river into the slums of Invermay. The place and street names remain, and much of the landscape is recognisable today. It’s a dark, bleak story brilliantly told, set in a dark time in Launceston’s colonial history.
‘History is the art by which we live our lives, he said. You have your history and I have mine.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
lisa_setepenre's review against another edition
5.0
It is 1874. William Toosey's mother has died, leaving him to fend for himself. In desperation, he pens a letter to his long-absent father. Thomas Toosey returns to the city of Launceston, seeking his son. Fitheal Flynn and his hooded daughter follow, seeking the payment of a great debt. Launceston, though, cares little for their plights, and teeters into anarchy.
To Name Those Lost is the second book by author Rohan Wilson. I haven't read his debut novel, [b:The Roving Party|17978557|The Roving Party|Rohan Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388350829s/17978557.jpg|16154895], but after reading To Name Those Lost, it's rapidly moved up the ranks from "read this one day" to "read this ASAP". In short, To Name Those Lost is spectacular.
There is a grittiness to the world Wilson captures, a sense of a place where dog-eats-dog, where there are layers and layers of debts, all of which must be paid with a pound of flesh. It is harsh, unrelenting and, for the people of this world, nothing is never easily done. Is there hope and goodness in this world? Only in unsuspected, far-off glimpses, as though tiny flakes of gold in muddy sediment.
But there is an incredible thread through the work, where I was never in doubt that I was reading something beautiful. To be sure, it's sparse and reflects an ugly, unforgiving world, but there is something unbearably beautiful about it.
To add further joy, To Name Those Lost is also a page-turner. The pages just flew by – I remember, on the last day I read this, I picked it up at page 85 or so, and then when I next checked, I was on page 188.
I feel as though I'm fumbling as I try to explain why To Name Those Lost was such a stunning read. I feel as though my words can't do credit to the ways in which this book is so worth the read.
To Name Those Lost is the second book by author Rohan Wilson. I haven't read his debut novel, [b:The Roving Party|17978557|The Roving Party|Rohan Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388350829s/17978557.jpg|16154895], but after reading To Name Those Lost, it's rapidly moved up the ranks from "read this one day" to "read this ASAP". In short, To Name Those Lost is spectacular.
There is a grittiness to the world Wilson captures, a sense of a place where dog-eats-dog, where there are layers and layers of debts, all of which must be paid with a pound of flesh. It is harsh, unrelenting and, for the people of this world, nothing is never easily done. Is there hope and goodness in this world? Only in unsuspected, far-off glimpses, as though tiny flakes of gold in muddy sediment.
But there is an incredible thread through the work, where I was never in doubt that I was reading something beautiful. To be sure, it's sparse and reflects an ugly, unforgiving world, but there is something unbearably beautiful about it.
To add further joy, To Name Those Lost is also a page-turner. The pages just flew by – I remember, on the last day I read this, I picked it up at page 85 or so, and then when I next checked, I was on page 188.
I feel as though I'm fumbling as I try to explain why To Name Those Lost was such a stunning read. I feel as though my words can't do credit to the ways in which this book is so worth the read.
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