Archaeologist David Norfolk is searching for a 400-year-old Portuguese shipwreck off the coast of New South Wales. Such a find would rewrite the history of the discovery of Australia. But instead he unearths the body of a man murdered fifty years earlier, and begins to unravel a more personal kind of history.
An elderly recluse, dying in a nearby shack, seems to know something of the corpse’s identity – and also its connection to the shipwreck. He begins telling David about his own past, a story of a life marred by passion, rivalry and betrayal. But what does he know about the ship and the murder – and will he tell David before it is too late?
(Source: Publisher's description).Epigraph:
Wrack: 1. To suffer or undergo shipwreck; 2. To wreck; to ruin; to cast ashore by shipwreck; 3. Remnants of or goods from a wrecked vessel, esp. As driven or cast ashore; wreckage; 4. To cause the ruin, downfall or subversion of (a person, etc.); to ruin or overthrow; 5. Retributive punishment,; vengeance, revenge; 6. A thing or person in an impaired, wrecked or shattered state; 7. Marine vegetation or seaweed cast ashore by the waves or growing on the tidal seashore.
Oh but it is true … Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when ere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.
Neil Gaiman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
James Bradley's Wrack : Study Notes for Area of Study : Discovery 2015-2018 HSC
Seven Hills
:
Five Senses Education
,
2014
8039923
2014
single work
criticism
