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Wanting

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( 3,041 ratings, 410 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Wanting by Richard Flanagan weaves together two narratives set in 19th-century Tasmania and England. The story explores themes of desire and longing through the lives of historical figures like Sir John Franklin and Charles Dickens, examining the impact of dreams and unfulfilled wants on their personal and professional lives. Flanagan crafts a rich, poignant tale that delves into the nature of desire and its consuming power.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in stories that explore the deep complexities of human desire and the impact of colonialism on individual lives. Set in the 19th century, it artfully connects two disparate storiesโ€”one involving the explorer Sir John Franklin and the other concerning a young Aboriginal girlโ€”bringing to life themes of love, loss, and yearning across different cultures and societies.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Richard Flanagan's Wanting reminds us that he is one of the most exciting novelists working anywhere, full stop - The Age

From the winner of the Man Booker Prize. The bestselling, universally lauded novel of desire and its denial from acclaimed writer Richard Flanagan.

Van Diemen's Land, 1841. Mathinna, the adopted Aboriginal daughter of the island's governor, Sir John Franklin, and his wife, Lady Jane, sits for her portrait. She is the subject of a grand experiment in civilisation - one that will determine whether science and reason can be imposed in place of savagery and desire.

Years pass. Sir John Franklin disappears on an Arctic expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage. England is horrified as reports of cannibalism filter back from search parties, no one more so than the most celebrated novelist of the day, Charles Dickens, for whom Franklin's story becomes a means to plumb the frozen depths of his own soul.

As several lives become entwined, Wanting transforms the classical myth of Leda and the swan into a novel about the ways in which desire - and its denial - shape us all.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781761048180

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 April 2023

Country: Australia

Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 188g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Richard Flanagan has been described by the Washington Post as 'one of our greatest living novelists' and as 'among the most versatile writers in the English language' by the New York Review of Books. He won the Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and the Commonwealth Prize for Gould's Book of Fish. His most recent book is Question 7.

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