English novelist Matthew Kneale, the son of the screenwriter Nigel Kneale and children's author Judith Kerr, studied history at Magdalen College, Oxford. His first novel Whore Banquets won a Somerset Maugham award. His second novel was Inside Rose's Kingdom and his third novel, Sweet Thames won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. English Passengers, his fourth novel ,was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize; this is the only work by Matthew Kneale to that date with an Australian setting.
Kneale visited Tasmania to research English Passengers. In an interview with Sean McDonald Kneale says, 'I'd never been to Tasmania till I researched this book, when I spent a few wonderful weeks there, reading in the Hobart library, walking across the mountains of the center and visiting the vital places, such as Flinders Island.'
(
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0400/kneale/interview.html )
English Passengers
New York (City)
:
Talese
,
2000
Z375635
2000
single work
novel
historical fiction
It is 1857, and Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has departed England to prove the literal truth of the bible. The expedition heads towards Tasmania, where he is convinced he will find the real Garden of Eden. But the other passengers have their own agendas. As the English passengers near Peevay's land, their bizarre notions become painfully at odds with reality. (Source: Trove)
