English Passengers

'A book shouting with life... The interleaving of high comedy with dramatic terror is expertly handled... Deserves to be welcomed into port with a riot of bunting and prizes' It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has set out for Tasmania, hoping to find the true site of the Garden of Eden. But the journey is turning out to be less than straightforward - dissent is growing between him and sinister racial-theorist Dr Potter, and, unknown to both, the ship they have hurriedly chartered is in fact a Manx smuggling vessel, fleeing British customs. In Tasmania the aboriginal people have been fighting a desperate battle against British invaders, and, as the passengers will discover, the island is now far from being an earthly paradise... 'A fascinating story, richly told: a major work by a major talent' Independent 'Often hilarious. Tart wit generates caustically funny scenes. Relishably ironic fates are dealt out to the book's more dislikable characters' Sunday Times 'The sort of novel few contemporary writers have either the imagination or the stamina to sustain' Daily Telegraph 'Fantastic... It's an absolute cracker. Run out, everybody, and get copies' Saturday Review, Radio 4 'Extraordinary... it has moral purpose and the power to change' Mail on Sunday