This story is set in 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...

Beautifully written book ! Great stories both the setting in London and the description of a life of a waterman on the river Thames and also the Australian part where William and his family are trying to settle in after being deported as a convict.

RELEASE NOTES:

At July Meet Up. Happy reading

Caught at Edinburgh meetup. Thanks

I am still reading this wonderful book. I told my parents about it, they want to read it after me, so, I have reserved it for them. When they have finished it I will release it.

This book should be considered as one of the greatest books of all time.
Will pass the book to my parents on sunday.

My Mum thought it was ok. But my Dad loved it. :-)

Caught at the Edinburgh meet up. This looks very good.

This was beautifully written. Kate Grenville is brilliant at making her characters come to life. You just knew this was going to end in tears, but were compelled to keep going. Really got a feel for the family's life in London and then in Australia. Will bring along to t he next meet up.

caught at meetup - thanks

Caught at the Edinburgh BookCrossing MeetUp this evening. It was left on the table, by the end of the BookCrossing MeetUp and I decided to take it to Aberdeen’s Official BookCrossing Zone bookshelf in the Belmont Cinema over the coming weekend.

It looks like this book has been travelling quietly since December 2007 so it’s great to be able to offer past readers some notion of its planned where-abouts!

Added: Sat 21 Feb 09 - Decided to keep life simple and release this on arrival in Aberdeen on Thursday the 12th of Feb by placing it on Aberdeen’s, Official BookCrossing Zone (OBCZ) bookshelf and have finally popped back here to make a release journal note to that effect…

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Welcome to Bookcrossing.
Thank you for catching this book! I hope that you enjoy it and will consider exploring this site and possibly joining. It is free and loads of fun, as you can track your released books in their travels, possibly all over the world!
Please feel free to keep this book for as long as you wish, and whenever you're ready, pass it on. Then watch its journey - you'll be alerted by email each time someone makes a new journal entry. It's all confidential, free and fun (and addictive - but in a GOOD way)!
You may remain anonymous, but if you choose to join the site, I hope that you will consider using me, rainbow3, as the one who referred you.
Congratulations on finding a Bookcrossing book and Happy Reading!!

4.3.09

16.4.09

may 09

june 09

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

picked up