The Bright Side of My Condition

Based on a true story. Bloodworth and three fellow convicts flee the Norfolk Island penal colony as stowaways aboard a sealer. Offered the choice between joining the crew and being left on an island, they choose the island, and the captain puts them ashore on the Snares, south of Stewart Island, with a trypot and a few supplies, promising to fetch them in a year. No ship comes for years. The four men share nothing but the urge to get away and the need to stay alive, and they live crammed together in freezing isolation: Slangam is sure hard work will save them, Toper trusts in God, Gargantua puts his faith in what he has read, and Bloodworth, who tells the story, observes his companions and the harsh island around them.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

New Zealand, early 19th century

First published

2014

ISBN

9780143570660 (Penguin, New Zealand)