Bring Larks and Heroes, Thomas Keneally (Miles Franklin, 1967)

Keneally won the Miles Franklin for this book and in the following year, and we have already covered Schindler's Ark (Booker, 1982). His name certainly has gravitas in the literary world. Robert Hughes has said Keneally with this novel "is the first novelist to use Australia's colonial past intelligently", while another critic at the time praised "the economical [use] of words with sometimes a curious lilt to them, even when he is dealing in brutality and tragedy." It is set in a penal colony very like Sydney in the 18th century. Like many of his novels it follows the lives of the oppressed, in this case Irish nationalists.

Since starting this book club a few years ago we have formed a nice core membership. If you haven't come yet, please look out for the books on the table, pull up a chair, order a wine and join us. We like to hear what everyone has to say and enjoy the conversation, we're not cliquey at all! Oh, and to defray the Meetup monthly bill I will accept gold coin contributions or wine if you want to pay for multiple in one hit. I hope to see everyone again at this one with some new faces.