Bloodlust by Nick Bleszynski

This novelisation of true events depicts a chilling tale of convict life in early Tasmania. Bleszynski creates a strong sense of Pearce's amazing exploits through the 'discovery' of his written memoirs at the remains of Sarah Island penal colony by a rich young American, Daniel Ruth, thirty years after Pearce's death.

 

With a mixture of action, and Pearce's reflections before he heads to the gallows, readers are drawn into an engrossing portrayal of a brutal penal colony and harsh landscape, and the lengths to which people go to survive.

Citation: Bleszynski, Nick  Bloodlust : the unsavoury tale of Alexander Pearce, the convict cannibal  North Sydney : William Heinemann, 2008.

ISBN: 978 1 74166 700 4  387p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Bloodlust"
LINC Tasmania items by Nick Bleszynski

Poet's cottage by Josephine Pennicott

In a blend of family saga and murder mystery, Josephine Pennicott's novel entwines the modern day tale of Sadie's return to her haunted family home with the murder of her notorious grandmother, Pearl, at Poet's Cottage in Pencubitt, Tasmania in the 1930's.

At times the author creates a quite chilling and foreboding atmosphere, and ghostly characters increase the feeling of suspense. The varying portrayals of the controversial Pearl by different family members and acquaintances challenge Sadie to discover the real events surrounding Pearl's death and restore the strained family relationships.

Citation: Pennicott, Josephine Poet's cottage Sydney : Pan Macmillan, 2012.

ISBN: 978 1 7426 1089 4  371p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Poet's cottage"
LINC Tasmania items by Josephine Pennicott

Josephine Pennicott's website

The butterfly man by Heather Rose

We all have secrets, but Henry Kennedy's are bigger than most. As his brain cancer takes hold and dementia increases, how will he keep up his assumed identity? Heather Rose creates a compelling story around the possibility that potential murderer, Lord Lucan, escaped from England and settled in Tasmania.

 

Is not telling the whole truth the same as lying? As Henry's life starts to unravel, he discovers that his partner Lili has secrets of her own. Her estranged daughter, Suki, suddenly appears with her son, Charlie, which creates a complex family dynamic.

 

Rose's sympathetic portrayal of Henry's situation is very moving and her characters and their emotions are realistically drawn.

Citation: Rose, Heather The butterfly man St Lucia: UQP, 2005.

ISBN: 0 7022 3535 0  317p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The butterfly man"
LINC Tasmania items by Heather Rose

Heather Rose' website

Tears over the Kimberleys by Lance C. Wilson

If you are looking for a rollicking, lusty tale of outback life, then this is the book for you. While working as a shearer, AJ meets Sky, a beautiful part-aboriginal girl and it is through a misunderstanding that they lose touch. In time he meets and marries the wealthy, spoiled and spirited Prudence.

 

On his way to fight in Vietnam, the planeload of soldiers stops over in Darwin where he reconnects with Sky and learns he is a father. Amazingly, Sky and Prudence become firm friends and together operate the 'Big Sky' cattle station in the Kimberleys while waiting for AJ's return.

 

Lance Wilson's tale is certainly raunchy at some stages but is predominantly the story of a family enduring and thriving in the Australian outback and rural Tasmania. AJ, Sky and Prudence are down-to-earth characters and are supported in their journeys through life by a large cast of colourful hangers on.

 

Citation: Wilson, Lance C. Tears over the Kimberleys [n.p.] : Kimberley Cottage Press, c2007.

 

ISBN: 978 0 9775505 2 4  228p.

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Tears over the Kimberleys"

LINC Tasmania items by Lance C. Wilson

 

Lance C. Wilson's website

The girl and the ghost-grey mare by Rachael Treasure

Rachael Treasure's collection of heart-warming short stories vary from very brief (2 pages) to approximately 30 pages in length allowing readers to dip in and out at their convenience. Her characters display all our usual intensely (and often nonsensical) personal concerns and anxieties which make her stories very believable.

Many, such as "The mysterious handbag" or "McCubbin's lost child", have a twist in the tale or an odd premise which make them quite quirky. Humour and romance are common themes, and many stories include animals or are set in the country.

Citation: Treasure, Rachael The girl and the ghost-grey mare Camberwell : Penguin, 2011.

ISBN: 978 1 921518 56 0  236p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The girl and the ghost-grey mare"
LINC Tasmania items by Rachael Treasure

Rachael Treasure's website



The hunter by Julia Leigh

Deception is the central theme in Julia Leigh's slim novel. Even her main character, the hunter Martin David ("M"), has an assumed name and he conducts his secret quest to obtain the DNA of the last Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) for a multinational biotechnology company under the pretence of being an environmental researcher.

 

The story is portrayed mainly through M's thoughts and perceptions. His encounters with Sass and Bike, the young children of the family with whom he is boarding add another layer of complexity as their environmentalist father went missing in the area of Tasmanian bush where M is searching for the tiger. Sass desperately wants M to return with some positive news of her father.

 

There are some very quirky minor local characters who provide a foil to M, and the sometimes bleak Tasmanian bush adds its own haunting atmosphere. This powerful novel raises questions of ethics about many of the activities which occur in guise of progress.

 

In 2011, the movie version of The hunter was released starring Willem Dafoe as the central character, M. It was filmed in Tasmania.

 

Citation: Leigh, Julia The hunter  Ringwood, Victoria : Penguin, 1999.

0 14 028351 X  170p.

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The hunter"
LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The hunter" dvd

The roving party by Rohan Wilson

It is hard for us to imagine the roving parties that went out looking for aborigines to kill for bounty payments. It is even more difficult to understand the motivation of an aboriginal tracker, Black Bill, participating in these under John Batman's leadership.

But Rohan Wilson draws his readers in with his stark portrayal of free men, convicts and trackers who each have private motivations for undertaking this brutal task: money, freedom, and personal revenge. 

 

Citaton: Wilson, Rohan The roving party Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 2011.

ISBN: 978 1 74237 653 0  282p.

 

Winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 2011

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The roving party"

A child's book of true crime by Chloe Hooper

In this psychological mystery, Kate Byrne is having an affair with the father of Lucien, one of her young students. A peaceful rural setting belies the foreboding just below the surface of the local community.

 A decade earlier,  a young adulteress had been murdered, and this episode is related in "Murder at Black Swan Point", a book by the wife of Kate's lover.

 

As Kate becomes more obsessed by the crime which mirrors her own situation, even her lover's forays into the erotic do nothing to bring home the reality of her situation, and the effect it is having on her place in the small town society.

  

Citation: Hooper, Chloe A child's book of true crime  Milsons Point, NSW : Random House Australia, 2002.

 

ISBN: 1 74051 208 1  238p.

 

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "A child's book of true crime"

LINC Tasmania items by Chloe Hooper



Tiger Men by Judy Nunn

Tiger Men is a sweeping family saga which brings to life several generations of the Stanfords, O'Callaghans and Powells who settle in Van Diemen's Land.

With a mix of former convicts and wealthier free men and women, Judy Nunn entwines their destinies from early convict days in Tasmania through to the battlefields of Gallipoli and France in World War 1.

The strong men and women fight for survival and to flourish in tough business and natural environments. Don't sit down with this compelling story if you are supposed to be doing the ironing!

Citation:  Nunn, Judy   Tiger men North Sydney : Random House Australia, 2011.

ISBN: 978 1 86471 218 6  620p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Tiger men"
LINC Tasmania items by Judy Nunn

Judy Nunn's website

The betrayal by Y. A. Erskine

Yvette Erskine's second gritty crime novel with a Tasmanian police setting centres around young police constable Lucy Howard's claim of sexual assault by a fellow officer Nick Greaves.

 

In a tough, male dominated workforce, this is betrayal. As her case winds through the legal process she encounters firm supporters and brutal detractors. Favours are distributed and received involving all levels of the criminal justice system and government.

 

In this tense novel Lucy faces the grim truths of her situation, finds a tentative sense of resolve and comes to the realisation that sometime soon she will be yesterday's news and her work colleagues will move on to the latest juicy situation.

 

Citation: Erskine, Y. A. The betrayal  North Sydney : Random House Australia, 2012.

ISBN: 9781742750187 420p.

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The betrayal"

LINC Tasmania items by Y. A. (Yvette) Erskine