Herodotus Academy

NOTES OF H3A READING GROUP MEETING ON 11 January 2012

Orange Prize winner Kate Grenville’s novel “The Secret River” was published in 2005. She went on to write a second book called “The Search for the Secret River” in which she describes her research into the subject.

Inspired by the early life of one of her ancestors, Kate Grenville tells the story of Will and Sal Thornhill.  They grow up in extreme poverty in late 18th century east London.  After trial for stealing valuable wood, Will and his fmily are transported to the penal colony at Sydney Bay, Australia.  The bulk of the story deals with the uneasy relationship between the convict settlers and the indigenous people of Austalia. It culminates in an horrific massacre.  The final chapter of the novel has Will 10 years later sitting on his bench (one of our group saw it as the bench of shame) on the veranda of his mansion.  Outwardly surrounded by the trappings of success, he obsessively scans the horizon with his telescope.

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