Thomas Keneally

"Edward Dickens, the tenth child of England's most famous author Charles Dickens, has consistently let down his parents. Unable to apply himself at school and adrift in life, the teenaged boy is sent to Australia in the hopes that he can make something of himself--or at least fail out of the public eye. He soon finds himself in the remote Outback, surrounded by Aboriginals, colonials, ex-convicts, ex-soldiers, and very few women. Even on the other...

"Based on true events, this beautifully rendered novel from the author of Schindler's List and The Daughters of Mars brilliantly explores a World War II prison camp, where Japanese prisoners resolve to take drastic action to wipe away their shame. Alice is a young woman living on her father-in-law's farm on the edge of an Australian country town, while her husband is held prisoner in Europe. When Giancarlo, an Italian anarchist at the prisoner-of-war...

Keneally tells the tale of the unlikely encounter that propelled him to write about Oskar Schindler, and of the impact of his extraordinary account on people around the world. Australian writer Keneally met Leopold "Poldek" Pfefferberg, the owner of a Beverly Hills luggage shop, in 1981. Poldek, a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor, had a tale he wanted the world to know. He convinced Keneally to relate the incredible story of "the all-drinking,...

It was 1786 when Arthur Phillip, an ambitious captain in the Royal Navy, was assigned the formidable task of organizing an expedition to Australia in order to establish a penal colony. The squalid and turbulent prisons of London were overflowing, and crime was on the rise. Even the hulks sifting at anchor in the Thames were packed with malcontent criminals and petty thieves. So the English government decided to undertake the unprecedented move of...

From one of our greatest living writers, a bold and timely novel about sin cloaked in sacrament, shame that enforces silence, and the courage of one priest who dares to speak truth to power. Sent away from his native Australia to Canada due to his radical preaching against the Vietnam War, apartheid, and other hot button issues, Father Frank Docherty made for himself a satisfying career as a psychologist and monk. When he returns to Australia to lecture...

The first volume of a unique history of Australia where people are always centre stage, from bestselling author Thomas Keneally who brings to life the vast range of characters who have formed our national story.

In this volume of a unique history of Australia where people are always centre stage, bestselling author Thomas Keneally brings to life the vast range of characters who have formed our national story.

Convicts and Aborigines,

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A disturbing love story about two families and the madness that threatens to consume them . . . Terry Delaney, a professional rugby player, leads a comfortable life with a genial wife and the occasional freelance job until he meets Danielle Kabbel. Obsessed and in love, Terry drops everything to pursue her. But it's her father Rudi Kabbel, an Eastern European immigrant with apocalyptic visions, and his madness that threatens to destroy Terry's sense...

A gripping reimagining of the drama, ego, intrigue, and madness at work during the World War I armistice negotiations In November 1918, after four long years of murderous conflict, six men gather in a railroad car in a secluded forest outside Paris, France, to negotiate an end to World War I. A pacifist, left-leaning diplomat with no military knowledge or experience, Matthias Erzberger has been selected by the German high command to represent their...

From the author of Man Booker Prize-winning Schindler's Ark, Palestinian terrorists hijack a flight from New York bound for Frankfurt that holds an unusual group of passengers: a troupe of dancers from the aboriginal Australian Barramatjara tribe. The hijackers single out Frank McCloud, the troupe's Caucasian manager, as an 'Exploiter of Landless People' and attempt to persuade the dancers to join their cause. Whose side will they take? What do the...

Discusses the Gorta Mor in 1840s Ireland, the famine in British-controlled Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines in Ethiopia in the late 20th century, and explores the concept that while famine can be caused by crop failures and weather conditions, famines are worsened by man-made choices such as politics and social and religious ideology.