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The Settlement

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The Settlement

By: Jock Serong
Narrated by: Lewis Fitz-Gerald
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About this listen

In The Settlement, Jock Serong reimagines in urgent, compelling prose the ill-fated exploits of George Augustus Robinson at the settlement of Wybalenna—a venture whose blinkered, self-interested cruelty might stand for the colonial enterprise itself.

On the windswept point of an island at the edge of van Diemen’s Land, the Commandant huddles with a small force of white men and women.

He has gathered together, under varying degrees of coercion and duress, the last of the Tasmanians, or so he believes. His purpose is to save them—from a number of things, but most pressingly from the murderous intent of the pastoral settlers on their country.

The orphans Whelk and Pipi, fighting for their survival against the malevolent old man they know as the Catechist, watch as almost everything about this situation proves resistant to the Commandant’s will. The wind, the spread of disease, the strange black dog that floats in on the prow of a wrecked ship....

But above all the Chief, the leader of the exiles, before whom the Commandant performs a perverse, intimate dance of violence and betrayal.

©2022 Jock Serong (P)2022 W F Howes
Action & Adventure Historical Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction Suspense

Critic Reviews

"An extraordinarily vivid imagining of one of the most significant encounters in Australian history." (Amanda Lohrey)

"Grips from the first page. It’s unsentimental, truthful and profound—all in a milieu effortlessly imagined." (Don Watson)

All stars
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The author conjures the atmosphere and the narrator delivers it perfectly.
A compelling read Will listen to more by this author.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.