Skip to main content

Secret River


I dug into my archives for this one because I wanted a photo of the Hawkesbury River, the subject of today's book. I love this river.  We regularly cross it at the foot of the mountains near Penrith (this photo was taken near Richmond though).  At Penrith it is known as the Nepean River a bit further downstream at about this point is it known at the Hawkesbury but is the same river.

A book I have read recently
This week I read The Secret River by Kate Grenville.  I have been avoiding this because I have not overly enjoyed other books by Grenville.  But it is regular on Australian reading lists so I gave it a go.  I actually found it quite readable and the historic recreation of encounters between early settlers and indigenous Australians quite plausible.  My only issue was that we didn't get inside the characters enough for it to be a great book, but given the contentious nature of the subject matter perhaps that would have been problematic. 

Comments

  1. I have read The Secret River by Kate Grenville and enjoyed it. It is a fascinating read, about the early nineteenth century when a convict transported from the slums of London, ends up as a free man to claim 100 acres on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. I think it is a fabulous work of historical fiction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I think it is good historic fiction and much more enjoyable than I expected.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful pastel blues in this shot Joan Elizabeth. There have been a few books I've had my doubts about from the first few chapters, but have persevered and really enjoyed them.. I hate to give up on a book I start 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This one was good from front to back but I certainly have some I find hard to stick to. Like you I hate to give up on a book but sometimes I do.

      Delete
  3. A lovely stretch of river. There's a town called Hawkesbury about an hour's drive east of my city.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet there is a Hawkesbury in the UK too. We seem to recycle names from that part of the world. Just checked ... there is one.

      Delete
  4. That's odd... somehow I got listed as anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks William. I am glad to have found the identity of the mystery commenter.

      Delete
  5. A beautiful photo Joan. Haven't read the book yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was taken some time ago. Must go back there sometime.

      Delete
  6. Beautiful photo. Thanks for your take on The Secret River. I haven't read it yet either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many books. It’s hard to choose what to read isn’t it.

      Delete
  7. Beautiful picture. I feel "ashamed" calling our Oker a river, too ;-)
    Seesh, I just bought way more than 10 books at Amazon, I need time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have got lots of books sitting under the Christmas tree. I am so looking forward to taking off the wrapping paper on Christmas day.

      Delete
  8. I have read the book and liked it. We drove to Wiseman's Ferry a few times (the family in the novel was based on the first European settlers here). Given that that part of the river isn't very developed it's not hard to imagine the events of the novel happening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought you would be popping in to tell me you had read itπŸ˜€. It is a very long time since we have been to Wisemans Ferry, night make a nice outing one day.

      Delete
  9. This looks like a placid river. It's very pretty.
    My book club rule of thumb is to give a book 50 pages. If it hasn't caught on my then it can be put down guilt free. Some of our readers have struggled to get even that far with a few of our picks and gone on to other things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I give myself 100 pages. I have never participated in a book club.

      Delete

Post a Comment