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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Fleeing their pandemic-stricken homelands, a shipload of migrant workers departs the UK, dreaming of a fresh start in prosperous Australia. For nine-year-old Cleary Sullivan, deaf for three years, the journey promises adventure and new friendships; for Glaswegian songstress Billie Galloway, it’s a chance to put a shameful mistake firmly behind her; while impoverished English schoolteacher Tom Garnett hopes to set his future on a brighter path. But when a crew member is found murdered and passengers start falling gravely ill, the Steadfast is plunged into chaos. Thrown together by chance, and each guarding their own secrets, Cleary, Billie and Tom join forces to survive the journey and its aftermath.
'The Trespassers is a beguiling novel that explores the consequences of greed, the experience of exile, and the unlikely ways strangers can become the people we hold dear.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
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Dedication: For Andi and Charlie, who carry the light
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Epigraph:
Don't lie down on the sands where the hole in the sky is.
Too many people being gnawed to shreds.
Send me your voice however it comes across oceans.
Safety, safely, safe home.
-Carol Ann Duffy, 'Who Loves You'
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In September 2019, it was announced that Triptych Pictures and (production company) Fremantle were developing The Trespassers for television (Source: ‘The Trespassers’ TV adaptation in development | Books+Publishing).
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In February 2020, The Trespassers was included on a recommended reading list compiled by the UNESCO Cities of Literature to reflect the UN's seventeen interconnected goals for a sustainable future. (Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/unesco-cities-of-literature-recommended-books-sustainable-development-goals/)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Settler Belonging in Crisis : Non-Indigenous Australian Literary Climate Fiction and the Challenge of “The New”
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: ISLE : Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Winter vol. 30 no. 4 2023; (p. 952–971) -
Echoes
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 416 2019; (p. 39)
— Review of The Trespassers 2019 single work novel'As the ship carrying nine-year-old Cleary Sullivan and his mother, Cate, sets sail from Liverpool, there is a ‘flurry’ among the passengers. A ‘violent slash of red; tall as a house and shining wet’ has appeared on the dock, visible only to those onboard. Cleary’s mind fills with images of ‘some diabolical creature of the deep, blood erupting from its mouth’. The reality is more prosaic – some spilt paint – but it is an ominous beginning.' (Introduction)
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Plague Tale Sails Close to Reality
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17 August 2019; (p. 25)
— Review of The Trespassers 2019 single work novel'Meg Mundell’s The Trespassers is a clever, complex and ambitious novel that could be about colonisation or seeking refuge; perhaps both.'(Introduction)
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Plague Tale Sails Close to Reality
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17 August 2019; (p. 25)
— Review of The Trespassers 2019 single work novel'Meg Mundell’s The Trespassers is a clever, complex and ambitious novel that could be about colonisation or seeking refuge; perhaps both.'(Introduction)
-
Echoes
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 416 2019; (p. 39)
— Review of The Trespassers 2019 single work novel'As the ship carrying nine-year-old Cleary Sullivan and his mother, Cate, sets sail from Liverpool, there is a ‘flurry’ among the passengers. A ‘violent slash of red; tall as a house and shining wet’ has appeared on the dock, visible only to those onboard. Cleary’s mind fills with images of ‘some diabolical creature of the deep, blood erupting from its mouth’. The reality is more prosaic – some spilt paint – but it is an ominous beginning.' (Introduction)
-
Settler Belonging in Crisis : Non-Indigenous Australian Literary Climate Fiction and the Challenge of “The New”
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: ISLE : Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Winter vol. 30 no. 4 2023; (p. 952–971)
Awards
- 2020 shortlisted Voss Literary Prize
- 2020 shortlisted Norma K. Hemming Award — Long Form
- 2020 winner Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
- 2019 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Science Fiction Division — Novel
