First published 2001
Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley watches British Customs agents seize his rum cargo off the Isle of Man in 1857. His smuggling operation ruined, Kewley must charter his ship to survive. Two peculiar Englishmen offer passage money for a voyage to Tasmania. Reverend Geoffrey Wilson seeks proof that the Garden of Eden lies on that distant island. His companion Dr. Thomas Potter harbors darker theories about human races. As their ship sails toward Tasmania, another voice emerges from the island itself. Peevay, an Aboriginal man, tells of his people's fight against British invasion. His story spans decades, from the first violent encounters in 1824 through the approaching arrival of Wilson and Potter. The smugglers, the religious zealot, the racial theorist, and the displaced Aboriginal man move toward a collision that will reshape all their lives. Multiple perspectives weave together as cultures clash in the remote wilderness.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-clash, multiple-narrators
Setting: Isle of Man, Tasmania
Period: 1857, 1824
462 pages · Paperback · Gardners Books
Content warnings: colonialism, racism