Wanting

by Richard Flanagan
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New Yorker Notable Book of the Year; Library Journal Notable Book of the Year; London Observer Book of the Year; Washington Post Book of the Year Winner of the Queensland Premier's Award Winner of the WA Premier's Award Winner of the Tasmanian Book Prize

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Synopsis

NOW AVAILABLE IN A NEW VINTAGE EDITION 1841. In the remote penal colony of Van Diemen's Land, a barefoot aboriginal girl sits for her portrait in a red silk dress. She is Mathinna, the adopted daughter of the island's governor, Sir John Franklin, and his wife, Lady Jane, and the subject of a grand experiment in civilisation - one that will determine whether science, Christianity, and reason can be imposed in place of savagery, impulse and desire. Years pass. Sir John Franklin has disappeared, along with his crew and two ships, on an expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage. England is horrified as reports of cannibalism filter back from search parties, no one more so than the most celebrated novelist of the day, Charles Dickens, for whom Franklin's story becomes a means to plumb the frozen depths of his own soul. As several lives become conjoined by unexpected events and tragedies, Wanting transforms into a remarkable meditation on the ways in which desire - and its denial - shape our lives. 'The best novel I have read this year or expect to read for several more' -- SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

News & Blog

More News & Blog
Feb 14

WANTING National Year of Reading ‘Our Story’ Winner

by Random House Australia on 14 February 2012

WANTING National Year of Reading ‘Our Story’ Winner 0 comments

Thousands of Australians voted for the book to represent their state or territory during the National Year of Reading 2012 and we are excited to announce that WANTING by Richard Flanagan has won for the state of Tasmania. Inspired by historical events, WANTING is a novel about art, love, and the way in which life is finally determined never by reason, but only ever by wanting. This bestselling,...

Nov 18

WANTING shortlisted for Tasmania Book Prizes

by Random House Australia on 18 November 2010

WANTING shortlisted for Tasmania Book Prizes 0 comments

Richard Flanagan’s novel celebrated in this year’s awards

Editorial Reviews

"One of the best novels of this year" - THE TIMES

"WANTING is a novel you never want to end. As a reader, I can offer no greater accolade" - CANBERRA TIMES

"Richard Flanagan's WANTING reminds us that he is one of the most exciting novelists working anywhere, full stop" - THE AGE

"A haunting and powerful story... Mr Flanagan does a magical job of conjuring his native Tasmania as it must have appeared to English settlers ... And he enlivens his discursive narrative with some dazzling set pieces" - Michiko Kakutani, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"What a voice! ... Dickens would have applauded Flanagan's style. There can be no author more passionate or unfettered than Flanagan" - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

"A summary does little justice to the complexities and nuances of this dense and fascinating novel ... There are moments of great power and lyricism in WANTING" - William Boyd, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Flanagan brilliantly excavates historical truth with the light touch of an irresistibly good story, humour, and the wry observance that much of European civilisation depends on not dancing naked in polite drawing rooms." - Rachel Holmes, The Times

"Richard Flanagan is an exemplary case in point. Through his fiction, flat, conformist portraits of individuals become rich and three-dimensional, new witnesses provide fresh testimony about the past, and Tasmania’s silences resound with voices." - New York Times Book Review

"Moving seamlessly through time, across two continents and between three storylines, WANTING is a marvel of precision and cohesion." - The Sun Herald

"This is the best novel I have read this year or expect to read for several more." - Stella Clarke, Sydney Morning Herald

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