- Title:
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Bright and Distant Shores
- Written by:
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Dominic Smith
- Read by:
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Greg Lockett
- Format:
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Unabridged CD Audio Book
- Number of CDs:
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13
- Duration:
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15 hours 38 minutes
- Published:
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May 28 2019
- Available Date:
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May 28 2019
- Age Category:
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Adult
- ISBN:
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9781489498984
- Genres:
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Fiction; Australian Fiction; Historical Fiction
- Publisher:
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Bolinda audio
Qty
Format
Price
Bolinda price
A sweeping historical novel set amid the skyscrapers of 1890s Chicago and the far-flung islands of the South Pacific.
In the waning years of the 19th century there was a hunger for tribal artifacts, spawning collecting voyages from museums and collectors around the globe. In 1897, one such collector, a Chicago insurance magnate, sponsors an expedition into the South Seas to commemorate the completion of his company's new skyscraper – the world's tallest building. The ship is to bring back an array of Melanesian weaponry and handicrafts, but also several natives related by blood.
Caught up in this scheme are two orphans Owen Graves, an itinerant trader from Chicago's South Side who has recently proposed to the girl he must leave behind, and Argus Niu, a mission houseboy in the New Hebrides who longs to be reunited with his sister. At the cusp of the twentieth century, the expedition forces a collision course between the tribal and the civilised, between two young men plagued by their respective and haunting pasts.
An epic and ambitious story that brings to mind E. L. Doctorow, with echoes of Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson, Bright and Distant Shores is a wondrous achievement by a writer known for creating compelling fiction from the fabric of history.
'Beautifully researched and ripe with symbolism – an enthralling narrative peopled by characters both exotic and real.'
Kirkus Reviews, starred
'Smith's impressive third novel is an absorbing exploration of culture, tradition, and renewal through the high seas adventure of three very different men.'
Publishers Weekly, starred
'Vivid characterisation and a breathless narrative pace create a riveting tale of fragile indigenous communities in pristine places vanishing before the febrile raptor-breath of capitalism.'
Australian Book Review