Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
The Secret River
The Secret River is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aboriginal people. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006, and has been compared to Thomas Keneally's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and to Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang for its style and historical theme.
The Secret River was inspired by Grenville's desire to understand the history of her ancestor Solomon Wiseman, who settled on the Hawkesbury River at the area now known as Wisemans Ferry. Her inspiration to understand this came from her taking part in the 28 May 2000 Reconciliation Walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge during which she realised that she did not know much about the early interactions between the settlers and the Aboriginal people. Initially intended to be a work of non-fiction about Wiseman, the book eventually became a fictional work based on her research into Wiseman but not specifically about Wiseman himself. The novel took five years and twenty drafts to complete.
The novel is dedicated to the Aboriginal people of Australia. It sparked hostility from some historians, including Australian academic Mark McKenna, who published an article in which he criticised Kate Grenville, claiming that Grenville had referred to The Secret River as a "work of history", however, he could not provide a source for the statement. It received a positive response from many Aboriginal people; Grenville has said "they recognise that the book is my act of acknowledgement, my way of saying: this is how I'm sorry".
The Secret River has been adapted for the stage by Andrew Bovell; the play was presented by the Sydney Theatre Company in January 2013 and included in the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2019.
A TV adaptation was made in 2015 by Ruby Entertainment with support from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia, and was aired in June of that year by ABC TV as a two-part miniseries.
The early life of William Thornhill is one of Dickensian poverty, depredation and criminality. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime in the slums of London, William Thornhill is sentenced to death for stealing wood, however, in 1806 his sentence is commuted to transportation to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and children in tow, he arrives in a harsh land that feels at first like a death sentence. However, there is a way for the convicts to buy freedom and start afresh. Thornhill then gets sent to Sydney on a boat, by himself. After 9 months, Thornhill is finally able to reunite with his family in Australia. Sal becomes Thornhill's master, and Thornhill obtains a ticket of leave one year later, after he demonstrates good behaviour. His son Willie, already five years old, is unable to recognise his father after being away from him for so long. Thornhill now also has another son, Richard, whom he calls Dick.
During his first night in this new land, Thornhill encounters an Aboriginal man and struggles to communicate with him. The following weeks, Thornhill goes to work as a lighterman for Mr. King. Thornhill brings alcohol, which he got from Mr. King, back home to set up his own bar, named the "Pickled Herring." An Aboriginal man called Scabby Bill is a regular customer, entertaining the customers by dancing for money.
Three years later, Thornhill quits his job and works for Thomas Blackwood, a former convict who is attempting to reconcile himself with the place and its people. Blackwood lives on the Hawkesbury River, with his boat, "the Queen". Thornhill also meets Smasher Sullivan, a man whose fear of this alien world turns into brutal depravity towards it.
Hub AI
The Secret River AI simulator
(@The Secret River_simulator)
The Secret River
The Secret River is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aboriginal people. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006, and has been compared to Thomas Keneally's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and to Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang for its style and historical theme.
The Secret River was inspired by Grenville's desire to understand the history of her ancestor Solomon Wiseman, who settled on the Hawkesbury River at the area now known as Wisemans Ferry. Her inspiration to understand this came from her taking part in the 28 May 2000 Reconciliation Walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge during which she realised that she did not know much about the early interactions between the settlers and the Aboriginal people. Initially intended to be a work of non-fiction about Wiseman, the book eventually became a fictional work based on her research into Wiseman but not specifically about Wiseman himself. The novel took five years and twenty drafts to complete.
The novel is dedicated to the Aboriginal people of Australia. It sparked hostility from some historians, including Australian academic Mark McKenna, who published an article in which he criticised Kate Grenville, claiming that Grenville had referred to The Secret River as a "work of history", however, he could not provide a source for the statement. It received a positive response from many Aboriginal people; Grenville has said "they recognise that the book is my act of acknowledgement, my way of saying: this is how I'm sorry".
The Secret River has been adapted for the stage by Andrew Bovell; the play was presented by the Sydney Theatre Company in January 2013 and included in the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2019.
A TV adaptation was made in 2015 by Ruby Entertainment with support from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia, and was aired in June of that year by ABC TV as a two-part miniseries.
The early life of William Thornhill is one of Dickensian poverty, depredation and criminality. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime in the slums of London, William Thornhill is sentenced to death for stealing wood, however, in 1806 his sentence is commuted to transportation to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and children in tow, he arrives in a harsh land that feels at first like a death sentence. However, there is a way for the convicts to buy freedom and start afresh. Thornhill then gets sent to Sydney on a boat, by himself. After 9 months, Thornhill is finally able to reunite with his family in Australia. Sal becomes Thornhill's master, and Thornhill obtains a ticket of leave one year later, after he demonstrates good behaviour. His son Willie, already five years old, is unable to recognise his father after being away from him for so long. Thornhill now also has another son, Richard, whom he calls Dick.
During his first night in this new land, Thornhill encounters an Aboriginal man and struggles to communicate with him. The following weeks, Thornhill goes to work as a lighterman for Mr. King. Thornhill brings alcohol, which he got from Mr. King, back home to set up his own bar, named the "Pickled Herring." An Aboriginal man called Scabby Bill is a regular customer, entertaining the customers by dancing for money.
Three years later, Thornhill quits his job and works for Thomas Blackwood, a former convict who is attempting to reconcile himself with the place and its people. Blackwood lives on the Hawkesbury River, with his boat, "the Queen". Thornhill also meets Smasher Sullivan, a man whose fear of this alien world turns into brutal depravity towards it.