Wanting
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
Richard Flanagan’s WANTING, which has recently won the WA Premier’s Literary Award, has been shortlisted in the Tasmania Book Prizes. It is up against two other books in its category, IN SEARCH OF HOBART by Peter Timms and WHAT NOW, TILDA B by Katherine Lomer. See the shortlist for Tasmaina Book Prizes Previous winners for the Tasmania Book Prize include fellow Random House author, Nicholas...
Novels work on many levels. You just have to talk to a book group about a book to discover as many variations and perspectives as people in the group. One thing is for sure though if you love books you will enjoy reading WANTING by Richard Flanagan. Reviewers in Australia and now the US continue to praise this stunning, and Miles Franklin Award shortlisted, book. According to The Oregonian, "WANTING...
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Editorial Reviews
"One of the best novels of this year" - THE TIMES
"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
"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
"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
"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
"What a voice! ... Dickens would have applauded Flanagan's style. There can be no author more passionate or unfettered than Flanagan" - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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