There are some terrific characters in this novel, but what impressed me most was the way Serong is perfectly at home on board The Moonbird and writes so convincingly about weaving in and out of narrow coves without coming to grief on the rocks notorious for thousands of wrecks during the Age of Sail. I wonder if he is a yachtsman?

I will admit that I cottoned onto a crucial plot element early on, but it was still enjoyable reading for those who enjoy historical fiction. It's respectful of the issues surrounding the activities of George Augustus Robinson and the terrible impact on Tasmania's Aborigines; and it's also truthful about the poignant lives of convicts so young that today they would just be starting secondary school.

Oh, and another thing... Serong has won an award for writing a thriller that doesn't feature violence against women. There are some gruesome murders in The Burning Island, but only one woman dies and that's offstage because it happened long ago. There is violence against Aboriginal women too, but it's reported i.e. not lingered over in the salacious prose beloved of crime writers.

PS There's a handy map which traces the voyage so that readers always know where they are! ( )

In a sense this is a sequel to an earlier novel PRESERVATION in which Joshua Grayling was a key character. It involves the same geographic and historical setting - the Furneaux Islands in Bass Strait, the wreck of a ship and the disappearance of its passengers and cargo, but it is 30 years on, and Joshua Grayling, once assistant to Governor Hunter in the Sydney colony, is no longer the man he was. Now old, blind, and an alcoholic, he has been haunted for over 30 years by the thought of catching up with Master Figge, one of the survivors of the earlier wreck and the author of so much death.

Grayling is asked to undertake a private expedition to Bass Strait to discover what has happened to the Howrah, its passengers and its cargo. Some debris has been found that indicates that it has been wrecked. It is unthinkable that he take this voyage on his own, and so his daughter accompanies him. They arrive at the boat the Moonbird to discover that there is a paying passenger, doctor/scientist who will be studying birds and fish.

The Furneaux group in Bass Strait is largely populated by sealers who have taken Aboriginal wives, sometimes originally against their wills, and there are half-caste children. And the mad governor of Van Diemen's Land, Governor Arthur, is attempting to purge the main island and the Furneaux group of their Aboriginal population.

The story line didn't hold my interest as much as I would have liked, but that was certainly overlaid with a heap of interesting historical detail and and a wealth of very interesting characters, not the least the master of the Moonbird. ( )

The Burning Island is my first experience of Jock Serong’s writing, and on the strength of this novel it will not be my last. I was immediately struck by the quality of his prose. Not decadent but fecund with descriptions of precision and nuance that evoked both subtle changes in mood and nature’s awe-inspiring grandeur.

While nature is often in the leading role in this novel, Serong employs his deft characterisation to the human cast also. Their light and shade, and in the case of endearingly loyal but feisty Eliza, frustration and dark humour. The Burning Island‘s secondary ensemble cast too is afforded unexpected colour and depth; their ship’s captain a personal favourite. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/09/the-burning-island-by-jock-serong-r... ( )