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y separately published work icon Woman of the Inner Sea single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Woman of the Inner Sea
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Woman of the Inner Sea is Thomas Keneally's strongest, most compelling work since his Booker Prize-winning Schindler's Ark. Like that book, the story of Woman of the Inner Sea arises from a true incident, and once more the imagining of it is utterly convincing. Kate Gaffney-Kozinski, an attractive, well educated woman, has gone on 'walkabout' to the inner reaches of the Australian outback. Fleeing her wealthy husband, Paul Kozinski, and his unscrupulous clan, Kate is trying to obliterate herself and the grief that haunts her. At first we do not understand its source, but as the story unfolds a kind of mystery evolves around the tragic loss of her two children. In a small town she tries to change herself into a different woman, seeking the companionship and protection of a reticent but rough local man, an explosives expert known as Jelly. But the violence of the west country's unpredictable weather forces her to move on and soon she must confront her husband. No one knows Australian society better than Thomas Keneally, who offers here a rich cross-section of his people: from Kate's prominent father to her controversial uncle, a renegade priest; from the grasping Kozinskis who rule Sydney's construction business to colourful small-town men like Jelly and his friend Gus, who travels with a kangaroo and emu he has rescued from an entertainment park. And at the centre of this panorama stands Kate, a passionate woman of great integrity caught in a nightmare of grief and deception. Woman of the Inner Sea, with its evocation of the heroic in the midst of disaster and evil, will be remembered as one of Thomas Keneally's best works. (Source: LibrariesAustralia)

Notes

  • Dedication: To Jane, my valiant and worldly daughter.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Sydney, New South Wales,: Hodder and Stoughton ,
      1992 .
      image of person or book cover 2530114059903168395.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 284p.
      Note/s:
      • Includes Author's note (pp. 7-9).
      ISBN: 0340531487 (hbk)
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Coronet , 1993 .
      Extent: 320p.
      ISBN: 0340584645 (pbk)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Talese ,
      1993 .
      Extent: 277p.
      Edition info: 1st US ed.
      ISBN: 0385467958
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Sceptre ,
      1993 .
      Extent: 320p.
      Edition info: Rev. ed.
      ISBN: 0340579749 (pbk)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Plume ,
      1993 .
      Extent: 277p.
      ISBN: 0452271770
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Doubleday ,
      1993 .
      Extent: 277p.
      ISBN: 0385467958
Alternative title: La donna del mare interno
Language: Italian
    • Milan,
      c
      Italy,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Frassinelli ,
      1994 .
      image of person or book cover 1385267788848365634.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 341p.
      ISBN: 8876842748

Other Formats

  • Also braille, sound recording.

Works about this Work

Groundwater as Hyperobject Deborah Wardle , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Mosaic , June vol. 52 no. 2 2019; (p. 1-16)

'The essay explores ideas about groundwater in terms of its characteristics as a hyperobject. Key hydrogeology concepts and the conflicts and dilemmas in uses and abuses of groundwater in Australia underpin a search for the metaphorical potency of groundwater. Literature uncovers how allegorical tones of groundwater may be expressed.' (Publication abstract)

Interpodes : Poland, Tom Keneally and Australian Literary History Paul Sharrad , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture , vol. 2 no. 2 2012; (p. 169-179)

'This article is framed by a wider interest in how literary careers are made: what mechanisms other than the personal/biographical and the text-centred evaluations of scholars influence a writer's choices in presisting in building a succession of works that are both varied and yet form a consistently recognizable 'brand'.

Translation is one element in the wider network of 'machinery' that makes modern literary publishing. It is a marker of success that might well keep authors going despite lack of sales or negative reviews at home. Translation rights can provide useful supplementary funds to sustain a writer's output. Access to new markets overseas might also inspire interest in countries and topics other than their usual focus or the demands of the home market.

The Australian novelist and playwright Thomas Keneally achieved a critical regard for fictions of Australian history within a nationalist cultural resurgence, but to make a living as a writer he had to keep one eye on overseas markets as well. While his work on European topics has not always been celebrated at home, he has continued to write about them and to find readers in languages other than English.

Poland features in a number of Keneally books and is one of the leading sources of translation for his work. The article explores possible causes and effects around this fact, and surveys some reader responses from Poland. It notes the connections that Keneally's Catholic background and activist sympathies allow to modern Polish history and assesses the central place of his Booker-winning Schindler's Ark filmed as Schindler's List.' [Author's abstract]

"The Outback", "River Towns" and a New Nation Xiaojin Zhou , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: From Fixity to Fluidity : The Theme of Identity in Thomas Keneally's Fiction 2009; (p. 77-85)
'Towns are significant in the Australian nation-building process because they mark a new attitude toward the land, and hence a new way of life. If the early convicts are visitors who have no other choice, the immigrants who build the towns in the outback are willing settlers in this new land. Instead of regarding the land as a disorienting and disappointing “hell” they happen to be thrown into, the immigrants tend to look on the bush, the pasture and the farm as a place with new hope and new opportunities. Though they still carry old aesthetic expectations and occasionally lament the strangeness and barrenness of “the outback”, they are far more ready to adapt and of course, to re-create. In this sense, towns are the beginning of really positive and constructive interactions between Australians and their land. ' (77)
'Our Dread of the Coming Society': Thomas Keneally's Fiction Peter Pierce , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Country of Lost Children : An Australian Anxiety 1999; (p. 116-121)
y separately published work icon Australian Melodramas : Thomas Keneally's Fiction Peter Pierce , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1995 Z565009 1995 single work criticism The first comprehensive critical study of Keneally's work. It concentrates on his novels, but also covers plays and non-fiction, and analyses the academic reception of Keneally's work.
Branded and Unbranded Cynthia Blanche , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , May vol. 37 no. 5 1993; (p. 80-82)

— Review of Tanglewood Kristin Williamson , 1992 single work novel ; Honk If You Are Jesus Peter Goldsworthy , 1992 single work novel ; The Penguin Best Australian Short Stories 1991 anthology short story extract ; Woman of the Inner Sea Thomas Keneally , 1992 single work novel ; Unbranded Herb Wharton , 1992 single work novel
Forecasts Claire Mills , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , April vol. 71 no. 1025 1992; (p. 28)

— Review of Woman of the Inner Sea Thomas Keneally , 1992 single work novel ; For Better, for Worse and for Lunch Christina Hindhaugh , 1992 single work novel ; Lovers' Knots : A Hundred-Year Novel Marion Halligan , 1992 single work novel
Untitled A. P. Riemer , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 June 1992; (p. 42)

— Review of Woman of the Inner Sea Thomas Keneally , 1992 single work novel
Keneally Hits the Mark with Parables About Human Frailty Mark Thomas , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 June 1992; (p. C8)

— Review of Woman of the Inner Sea Thomas Keneally , 1992 single work novel
Comic Lines to Lighten Load of Catholicism Michael Sharkey , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 June 1992; (p. rev 7)

— Review of Woman of the Inner Sea Thomas Keneally , 1992 single work novel
Interpodes : Poland, Tom Keneally and Australian Literary History Paul Sharrad , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture , vol. 2 no. 2 2012; (p. 169-179)

'This article is framed by a wider interest in how literary careers are made: what mechanisms other than the personal/biographical and the text-centred evaluations of scholars influence a writer's choices in presisting in building a succession of works that are both varied and yet form a consistently recognizable 'brand'.

Translation is one element in the wider network of 'machinery' that makes modern literary publishing. It is a marker of success that might well keep authors going despite lack of sales or negative reviews at home. Translation rights can provide useful supplementary funds to sustain a writer's output. Access to new markets overseas might also inspire interest in countries and topics other than their usual focus or the demands of the home market.

The Australian novelist and playwright Thomas Keneally achieved a critical regard for fictions of Australian history within a nationalist cultural resurgence, but to make a living as a writer he had to keep one eye on overseas markets as well. While his work on European topics has not always been celebrated at home, he has continued to write about them and to find readers in languages other than English.

Poland features in a number of Keneally books and is one of the leading sources of translation for his work. The article explores possible causes and effects around this fact, and surveys some reader responses from Poland. It notes the connections that Keneally's Catholic background and activist sympathies allow to modern Polish history and assesses the central place of his Booker-winning Schindler's Ark filmed as Schindler's List.' [Author's abstract]

Keneally Keen to Reinvent Future KRT , 1993 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Saturday Mercury , 17 April 1993; (p. 36)
Swift Tom's Travels Deborah Cameron , 1992 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 June 1992; (p. 42)
Kempsey Next for Keneally Paul Whittaker , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Mercury , 8 April 1994; (p. 11)
'Our Dread of the Coming Society': Thomas Keneally's Fiction Peter Pierce , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Country of Lost Children : An Australian Anxiety 1999; (p. 116-121)
Last amended 27 Nov 2019 15:19:02
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