Sorry

In the remote north-west of Australia, from the 1930s into the Second World War, the English anthropologist Nicholas Keene buries himself in his books while his wife Stella, fragile and steeped in Shakespeare, gives their daughter Perdita the only schooling she gets. Unwanted and adrift, Perdita befriends Billy, a boy who can neither hear nor speak, and Mary, an orphaned Aboriginal girl brought from the convent to look after her, and the two girls come to call each other sister. Nicholas preys on the Aboriginal women around him, and when he is found murdered their bond is put to the test. Perdita tells the story as an adult, still carrying a guilt she has never faced.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Historical, Coming of age (assigned by AI)

Set in

Australia, 1930s–1940s

First published

2007

Author's age

52 when first published

ISBN

9781741669008 (Vintage, Australia)

9781846550539 (Harvill Secker, United Kingdom)

9780099507093 (Vintage, United Kingdom)

9781933372556 (Europa Editions, United States)

More

Wikidata