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they_planet's review against another edition
5.0
The author balanced historical events and people with a fictional whimsy and excitement that brings modern people into the past and past stories into modern light. Heartbreaking elements such as the character (based on the real person) of Arabanoo, the treatment of the female characters, and such reminds us viewers of the tragedies which shaped Australia as a nation, while still being an entertaining read to suit long train journeys and evening cups of tea.
rlvail's review against another edition
1.0
I have never once, in my life, stopped reading a book before the end... until this one. I just couldn't force myself to get through it. I should have loved it as I am a theatre student who is also interested in history. However, I couldn't follow the timeline, couldn't tell the characters apart, and couldn't understand what they were talking about or what it had to do with anything half of the time. Maybe someday I'll try again. But not today.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
‘Stealing time seems a heavy crime with the judges.’
In 1788, the First Fleet landed in Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. In 1789, Lieutenant Ralph Clark is commissioned by H.E. (unnamed in the novel but historically Governor Arthur Phillip) to stage a play in honour of the King’s birthday. George Farquhar’s comedy ‘The Recruiting Officer’ (first performed in 1706) is the play: the fact that the colony possessed only two copies of the script was the least of the handicaps to be overcome. Lieutenant Clark selects his cast from the convicts: burglars, whores and highwaymen. Most of the convicts are illiterate, rehearsals will be challenging and costuming rudimentary.
There are many levels to this novel. Staging the play – bringing British culture to the Antipodes – provides a backdrop for this period of the tentative new colony. Ralph Clark himself is torn between the family he has left behind and his feelings for a female convict who is one of the actors in the play. Woven around historical fact, this novel brings people and place to life. The play, that civilizing event, is being staged in a struggling community formed by exile.
I enjoyed this novel and Mr Keneally’s depiction of this period of Australia’s colonial history. Thomas Keneally wrote in the epilogue: ‘For yes, though they are fantastical creatures, they all lived.’ Imagine that.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In 1788, the First Fleet landed in Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. In 1789, Lieutenant Ralph Clark is commissioned by H.E. (unnamed in the novel but historically Governor Arthur Phillip) to stage a play in honour of the King’s birthday. George Farquhar’s comedy ‘The Recruiting Officer’ (first performed in 1706) is the play: the fact that the colony possessed only two copies of the script was the least of the handicaps to be overcome. Lieutenant Clark selects his cast from the convicts: burglars, whores and highwaymen. Most of the convicts are illiterate, rehearsals will be challenging and costuming rudimentary.
There are many levels to this novel. Staging the play – bringing British culture to the Antipodes – provides a backdrop for this period of the tentative new colony. Ralph Clark himself is torn between the family he has left behind and his feelings for a female convict who is one of the actors in the play. Woven around historical fact, this novel brings people and place to life. The play, that civilizing event, is being staged in a struggling community formed by exile.
I enjoyed this novel and Mr Keneally’s depiction of this period of Australia’s colonial history. Thomas Keneally wrote in the epilogue: ‘For yes, though they are fantastical creatures, they all lived.’ Imagine that.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
jocelyn_sp's review against another edition
3.0
I have put down [b:Grog : a bottled history of Australia's first 30 years|31430728|Grog a bottled history of Australia's first 30 years|Tom Gilling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470979906l/31430728._SY75_.jpg|52126076] because I wanted better story-telling, and coincidentally (?) chose this to read next. That was fun, because a lot of the story was fresh in my mind as history, and I enjoyed seeing it used so faithfully in fiction. I also really enjoyed the joy Ralph got from being a stage manager, and the vivid portrait of H.E. (aka His Excellency Arthur Phillip)
djrmelvin's review against another edition
4.0
-Written by the man who brought us "Schindler's List", this is slightly lighter fare. The book takes place in very early colonial Australia, as fascinating place as I've ever read about. One of the men in charge of the prison colony has been given the unlikely (but true) order to stage Anton Checkhov's "The Seagull", using prisoners as his actors. Every single character in this story is worthy of having a book to themselves. (You don't have to be familiar with "The Seagull" to enjoy this work, as the characters explain the whole plot, but it helps to have some knowledge of the tone of Checkhov's works.)
evakristin's review against another edition
4.0
Hm. I liked this book a lot, but I'm struggling to find the words to explain why.
Despite very little time being spent introducing them, I still found many of the characters fascinating. After finishing the book, I'm not quite sure if they are based on historical persons, or if they are made up, but strangely that doesn't bother me.
The small glimpses we got into the English criminal society at the time got me really curious, and I would love to read stories set in this world!
Despite very little time being spent introducing them, I still found many of the characters fascinating. After finishing the book, I'm not quite sure if they are based on historical persons, or if they are made up, but strangely that doesn't bother me.
The small glimpses we got into the English criminal society at the time got me really curious, and I would love to read stories set in this world!
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