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y separately published work icon The Hamilton Case single work   novel   crime   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 The Hamilton Case
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Having come of age on the island nation of Ceylon, Sam Obeysekere is a lawyer whose life is guided by the British culture that dominates his homeland. Educated at Oxford, with a dazzling career in his sights, Sam is more English than the English. Only his flamboyant, unruly mother, exiled to a jungle estate, reminds him of his family's real heritage and a different set of home truths. Sam's undoing arrives in the form of the Hamilton case, a scandalous murder that shakes the upper echelons of island society. Guided by grandiose visions of Sherlock Holmes, he becomes convinced he can solve the mysterious case - and that his good standing with the English will insulate him from the unrest the case has exposed. In the end, Sam grapples with a life that has been "a series of substitutions," the darkest of human misfortunes.'--BOOK JACKET.

Notes

  • Listed in The New York Times Book Review's list of Notable Books for 2004.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House , 2003 .
      image of person or book cover 3208422912076029942.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 369p.
      ISBN: 9781740512732
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Chatto and Windus ,       2003 .
      image of person or book cover 326895561987654793.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 297p.
      ISBN: 0701175168
    • Boston, Massachusetts,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Little, Brown ,       2004 .
      image of person or book cover 2199748250645143185.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Edition info: 1st US ed.
      ISBN: 0316735485
    • Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Vintage Australia , 2004 .
      image of person or book cover 4139217874785975111.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 1 v.p.
      ISBN: 1740512731
Alternative title: Der Fall Hamilton
Language: German
    • Stuttgart,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Klett-Cotta ,       2006 .
      image of person or book cover 2894021887178697076.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 349p.p.
      ISBN: 9783608937404 (hbk.)
    • Zurich,
      c
      Switzerland,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Unionsverlag ,       2008 .
      image of person or book cover 5818330943110871004.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 347p.
      ISBN: 9783293204249, 3293204244
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2005 extract novel crime historical fiction (The Hamilton Case)
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 100 2005; (p. 76-78)
From : The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2009 extract novel (The Hamilton Case)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 1307-1310)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

Aporetic Australia in 'The White Tiger', 'The Boat' and 'The Hamilton Case' Nicholas Jose , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 12 no. 2 2012; The paper investigates the significance of the aporetic presence of Australia in three important works of contemporary fiction that deal with Asian experience: The Hamilton Case (2003) by Michelle de Kretser, the story 'Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice' from The Boat (2008) by Nam Le, and The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga. Each author has links to Australia. In the case of The White Tiger, the paper considers the different contexts in which it can be read, including specifically Indian English Fiction, and argues that Australia offers a further context, a disappearing point, as 'a moral as well as a narrative alternative'. In the case of Nam Le's story Australia appears as the enabling ground for a 'defining but transitional, diasporic identity'. In The Hamilton Case Australia is an imaginary alternative and site for shape-changing and revenant stories. In considering these works as arguably examples of a new, mobile Asian Australian writing, the paper notes how they relate to and at the same time extend the parameters of Australian literature.
Aborigines, Sharks and Australian Accents : On Australian Writing Jo Case , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings , July no. 6 2011; (p. 41-51)

'Jo Case talks to influential writers, publishers and critics about that often frustrating definition of 'Australia' literature.' (Editor's abstract)
Bookmarks Jason Steger , 2007 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 22 September 2007; (p. 30) A column canvassing current literary news including the controversial proposed sale of poet Judith Wright's old home, and recent literary prizes awarded to Stefan Laszczuk and Michelle De Kretser.
The Wider Shores of Gothic Andrew Ng , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 66 no. 2 2007; (p. 149-156) Examines the 'gothic tradition in Australian and contemporary 'Australasian' fiction'. (Meanjin)
The De Kretser Case : a Note on Writing in English Pradeep Jeganathan , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies , vol. 6 no. 3 2005; (p. 446-451) 'How is the content of a literary canon, or tradition to be configured? What counts as a literary archive? More than 25 years after Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), it seems reasonable to assume, that central to such traditions, would be the work of those who live and work in the society that gives rise to it. In this review, such a location of Michelle de Kretser's new novel, The Hamilton Case is offered, as a caution to metropolitan literary critics who continue to approach Sri Lankan writing in English, as Christopher Columbus approached 'America'. It is argued that the novel owes much to, and can be read as echoing and elaborating the detective fiction of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was, also, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1956-1959' (author's abstract).
Sins of Family, and the World Fiona Stager , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 29 March 2003; (p. 8)
— Review of The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2003 single work novel
Deadly Melancholy in Colonial Haze Delia Falconer , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18-20 April 2003; (p. 14-15)
— Review of The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2003 single work novel
As the Sleuth Sets on Empire Liam Davison , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26-27 April 2003; (p. 8-9)
— Review of The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2003 single work novel
Fraying Nerves Gail Jones , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 251 2003; (p. 46)
— Review of The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2003 single work novel
Crazy Detail in the Big Picture Judith Armstrong , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 10 May 2003; (p. 5)
— Review of The Hamilton Case Michelle De Kretser , 2003 single work novel
Island of Insight Richard Yallop , 2003 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 April 2003; (p. 6)
The Unreliable Narrator Michelle Griffin , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 20 April 2003; (p. 10)
Haunted by History's Ghosts Bron Sibree , 2003 single work biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 19 April 2003; (p. 1a-2a)
Bookmarks : De Kretser's Big Week Jason Steger , 2004 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 22 May 2004; (p. 6)
The Beauty and the Menace Barry Scott (interviewer), 2004 single work interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 63 no. 2 2004; (p. 97-107) Barry Scott talks to Michelle De Kretser about Sri Lanka and the writing of fiction.
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (23)

Awards

VIEW ALL AWARDS (9)
Last amended 11 Jun 2020 13:20:02
Subjects:
Settings:
  • c
    Sri Lanka,
    c
    South Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • 1930s
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