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.
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.
ReplyDeleteYes I think it is good historic fiction and much more enjoyable than I expected.
DeleteBeautiful 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 😊
ReplyDeleteThis 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.
DeleteA lovely stretch of river. There's a town called Hawkesbury about an hour's drive east of my city.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
DeleteThat's odd... somehow I got listed as anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThanks William. I am glad to have found the identity of the mystery commenter.
DeleteA beautiful photo Joan. Haven't read the book yet.
ReplyDeleteIt was taken some time ago. Must go back there sometime.
DeleteBeautiful photo. Thanks for your take on The Secret River. I haven't read it yet either.
ReplyDeleteSo many books. It’s hard to choose what to read isn’t it.
DeleteBeautiful picture. I feel "ashamed" calling our Oker a river, too ;-)
ReplyDeleteSeesh, I just bought way more than 10 books at Amazon, I need time!
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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI thought you would be popping in to tell me you had read it😀. It is a very long time since we have been to Wisemans Ferry, night make a nice outing one day.
DeleteThis looks like a placid river. It's very pretty.
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
I give myself 100 pages. I have never participated in a book club.
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