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The Secret River
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Publisher's Summary
In 1806 William Thornhill, a man of quick temper and deep feelings, is transported from the slums of London to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife, Sal, and their children he arrives in a harsh land he cannot understand. But the colony can turn a convict into a free man. Eight years later Thornhill sails up the Hawkesbury to claim 100 acres for himself.
Aboriginal people already live on that river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan, and Mrs Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, soon has to make the most difficult choice of his life.
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Average Customer Ratings
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars102
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4 Stars63
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3 Stars13
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2 Stars3
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1 Stars10
Performance
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars112
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4 Stars47
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3 Stars13
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2 Stars3
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1 Stars3
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars95
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4 Stars52
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Margaret
- 10-10-2016
Wonderful vivid story telling!
Beautifully written and evocative Grenville has imagined us into the past. If you fancy a visit to early nineteenth century London, the penal colony of New South Wales and wondered what it must have been like to be a convict, an early settler on the Hawksbury River and whatever happened to the indigenous Australians who had lived there for many thousands of years; read this book! Sympathetic, complex and courageous writing. Highly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-12-2019
Terrific
An embarrassing recount of Australia’s past atrocities, even being a fictional tale. As an Australian I feel legitimately ashamed of all the things that settlers committed but this story provides a good back story and so interesting!
Amazing storytelling!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miss
- 18-05-2018
Compelling.
The narration was brilliantly done, and the story was breathtaking. I loved it. A must read for every Australian.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lesley
- 29-06-2016
Absolutely enthralling.
Fantastic narration. A captivating story which explores a brutal new world that is colonial Australia.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Helen Esdaile
- 13-05-2016
Beautifully written and read
Where does The Secret River rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is up there with the best
Which character – as performed by Paul Blackwell – was your favourite?
I liked all the characters. Paul made them believable. His early settler accents were wonderful.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
As an Australian it made me feel horrified at the treatment of Aboriginal Australians by not only the Government of the day but by the populace. Heart wrenching stuff.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs
- 15-12-2015
Superb book, beautifully read.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. The narration is excellent and the book itself is moving, revealing and a explores a crucial and devastating part off Australia's history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- henhao
- 01-03-2016
Powerful yet heartbreaking. An absolute must for every Australian
This is a powerful yet tragic tale and an absolute must-read for every Australian. Heartbreakingly informative about the colonisation/invasion of this land, both sides desperate for the other to move on. We recently saw the production on stage in Brisbane - again, a must-see if you have the chance. I also recommend watching Stan Grant's speech delivered in January 2016.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Regina Carol
- 03-11-2019
Life as we make it
I found the story dark and heavy. The trials of people who encountered hardships and hateful people. I’m not sure I would have been a person to survive it.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jacqueline Woiso
- 16-01-2019
boring
I'm 17 and this book was an assignment but for most of it was dragging on too long for me
if you're a man of imagery go ahead otherwise there's better things to read
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-12-2018
Sad but good
Most of this book was really great - I liked the parts describing life in England to how someone came to be sent to Australia and what life was like once they arrived. It gets quite depressing at the end but it had. Will is a very real character that isn’t perfect and like us all, it shows how just thinking something isn’t good enough if your actions don’t match.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 07-05-2018
Fantastic book
The book is fantastic. A great yarn in the Tradition of Dickens collides with the ugly reality of colonialism. The writing is superb.
The narrator is simply brilliant. The best narrators add so much life and heart to a book. I can’t recommend this reading highly enough.
To the indigenous people of Australia. You were robbed and murdered and called uncivilized criminals. It is impossible to imagine what could ever undo this injustice. It is heartbreaking to see how little has been done.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- faith cowgill
- 16-04-2018
Why the music?
The Music that plays in between the chapters is annoying . Maybe if it had something to do with the story, a story about Australia playing the didgeridoo… It might mean something, but it’s the same music this book house uses in between all of its audiobooks. Just get rid of it, that would be much better
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Merlin
- 25-07-2017
Vivid, well-told, life-story novel
I found this to be a very good conventional novel, strong all round and entertaining. It tells the story of a poor boy from London ho ends up seeking his fortune in Australia. The dialogue is excellent, and the narrator is superb.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Tracey
- 22-09-2015
it should stay secret
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
someone that likes a boring flat narrator and a rubbish storyline
What was most disappointing about Kate Grenville’s story?
it is the worst portrail of convict settelment that didn,t get to shack up with wife and kids when first transported
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Blackwell?
i don,t think you could narrate this story better
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Secret River?
the start and didn,t get past first chapters
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Gillian
- 08-08-2019
an uncertain narrative
The contemporary narratives of diverse peoples' presence in Australia are missing as ever. One day someone will offer perspectives of experience and reflect on the uncertainty of identity.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-03-2019
Great Book; really helpful for the English course
The book had a great storyline and was incredibly thought provoking. The themes of ownership, love and hate were fantastically portrayed through Grenville’s descriptive and often sometimes unforgiving writing which displayed the good, the bad and the ugly of Thornhills character who represented her ancestor. Her ability to accept the fact that her heritage came from the atrocious acts carried out by the colonialists is refreshing and this book creates a sense of outright guilt and remorse for Thornhill, especially as we see how Thornhill becomes detached from his family after carrying out the atrocious acts and coercing with the plans of smasher and co. Her use of symbolism and description of nature throughout the book plays with the readers emotion, as she also successfully conveys the message that the aborigines belonged there as nature itself favoured them and they would never leave South Wales despite the hate towards them as symbolised at the end. The performers voice was very calming and he defined different characters very well but I could see myself wanting more action in his tone if I listened to this book in a few sittings rather than over a long period of time listening to 10 minute snippets of this book. However his performance of the book is still one of the best I’ve heard and someone’s voice can be a subjective topic so I would still recommend everyone to get this book as in some way or another you would have been affected by British colonialism and will be able to relate the wide selection of characters in this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-03-2019
Kate is a wonderful painter of pictures
Brilliant book, makes me ashamed to think we did that to indigenous people, you really feel Williams guilt, like some of the characters and hate others! Well read, a pleasure to listen to!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 19-01-2019
Thank you for helping me through my English GCSE
Great book will a deep compelling message about Australia’s struggle with the country’s culture. An interesting listen that is really worth it but on repeat listening it fails to hold up. There is a very good performance form the reader but it lacks the defining features.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer Mrs L
- 20-05-2017
Thrilling, tender, harsh
I can see why Australian friends of mine have read this book several times. It is a compelling story of early convict settlers, a story of survival and love and has become one of my all time favourites. It is read brilliantly and the bars of music that separate the parts is perfect. You HAVE to listen to this book.