First published 2002
London, 1857. Reverend Wilson believes God has revealed to him that the Garden of Eden lies in Tasmania. Driven by divine conviction and personal ambition, he assembles an unlikely expedition. A disillusioned young botanist joins the quest, along with a doctor who secretly writes racist treatises promoting white supremacy. They charter passage with Captain Kewley, a smuggler more concerned with his contraband cargo than his passengers' mystical mission. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, an Aboriginal man named Peevay witnesses his people's struggle against European settlers, whom they call "ghosts with dead skin and feet without toes." As Wilson's ship approaches Peevay's island home, two vastly different worlds prepare to collide with devastating consequences.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: clash-of-cultures, fish-out-of-water
Setting: London, Tasmania, Aboriginal Island
Period: 1857
438 pages · Paperback · BELFOND
Content warnings: colonialism, racism