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July 1998. 283pp. Paperback, 215 x 138 mm. ISBN 0 9587718 8 X.
RRP $aud 21.95 |
| Who is he? How does he know my name? What does he want of me? These questions mixed with her fascination for a stranger preoccupy Elise Cartwright as she and her family try to make a home in the Norfolk Island penal settlement in the mid-nineteenth century. The settlement is for them as much as for the convicts, a place of exile, a place of punishment. The Pines Hold Their Secrets is an historical novel set in the notorious penal settlement of Norfolk Island in the 1850s. Elise Cartwright, the daughter of the superintendant of agriculture at the settlement is strangely drawn to an Irish convict who called her by name, requesting her help. Elise is forced to confront her mother's bigotry and her society's smugness in their position of authority and privilege. The Irish priest introduces Elise to his world of American literature while the convict servants introduce her to their world of land-loss, exploitation and famine. Slowly, she learns who 'her convict' is, as her family's fate becomes ever more tightly enmeshed with his. The novel is based on the historical reality of the Irish famine, the 19th century Young Ireland movement and the notoriety of Norfolk Island as the worst of the colonial Australian penal settlements. |
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| Profile of this author - Jill Blee |
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| More titles by this author - Jill Blee More titles on this theme - Historical Novels More titles on this country - Australia | Ireland Complete list of titles - Titles |
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