The Secret River by Kate Grenville: An Adaptation for the Stage by Andrew Bovell

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges.

Andrew Bovell's play, The Secret River, by Kate Grenville, shines a light on a critical moment of Australian history. It tells the story of William Thornhill, born into brutal poverty in London in the late 18th century and transported to the colony of New South Wales for theft in 1806.

Convict William Thornhill, exiled from the stinking slums of early 19th-century London, discovers that the penal colony offers something that he never dared to hope for before: a place of his own. A stretch of land on the Hawkesbury River is Thornhill's for the taking. As he and his family seek to establish themselves in this unfamiliar territory, they find that they are not the only ones to lay a claim to the land. The Hawkesbury is already home to a family of Dharug people, who are reluctant to leave on account of these intruders. As Thornhill's attachment to the place and the dream deepens, he is driven to make a terrible decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.