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A review by candacesiegle_greedyreader
The Dickens Boy by Thomas Keneally
5.0
One of Charles Dickens' eight sons opines to another that the gov'ner, as they called him, sends his own children to the same backwaters that he sends his least favorite characters. Two of his sons are in Australia, while the others are scattered across India and Canada. Whas the gov'ner disappointed in this children? It might seem so.
The Dickens boy is the gov'ner's youngest, Edward, known at Plorn, dragged from school at 16 and plopped on a ship for Australia, where he will learn the sheep business. Plorn "never applied himself" and is not very ambitious, and has never read any of his father's works. In Australia, Dickens is revered by people of all classes and education. They can recite whole chapters of this book or that, they act them out, they never get tired of discussing the characters, and laughing when they're not weeping. Dickens' work is something that brings people together, and Plorn has a big secret to keep.
In remote New South Wales the formerly feckless Plorn creates himself. With an open mind he meets aboriginal people, ex-convicts, new colonists, gets taken hostage (one of the most touching parts of the novel) and flirts with love. He has so much of his father's work quoted to him that he almost doesn't need to read them. He defends the gov'ner to his angry brother and tries to do well by all.
Thomas Keneally writes about Australia of the 1860's with a historian's eye and novelist's flair, making this novel a treat and a triumph.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
The Dickens boy is the gov'ner's youngest, Edward, known at Plorn, dragged from school at 16 and plopped on a ship for Australia, where he will learn the sheep business. Plorn "never applied himself" and is not very ambitious, and has never read any of his father's works. In Australia, Dickens is revered by people of all classes and education. They can recite whole chapters of this book or that, they act them out, they never get tired of discussing the characters, and laughing when they're not weeping. Dickens' work is something that brings people together, and Plorn has a big secret to keep.
In remote New South Wales the formerly feckless Plorn creates himself. With an open mind he meets aboriginal people, ex-convicts, new colonists, gets taken hostage (one of the most touching parts of the novel) and flirts with love. He has so much of his father's work quoted to him that he almost doesn't need to read them. He defends the gov'ner to his angry brother and tries to do well by all.
Thomas Keneally writes about Australia of the 1860's with a historian's eye and novelist's flair, making this novel a treat and a triumph.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.