image of person or book cover 7735157287559860689.jpg
Cover for the first edition (Heinemann, 1995).
y separately published work icon The Potato Factory single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1995... 1995 The Potato Factory
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Latest Issues

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Ikey Solomon's favourite saying is also his way of doing business. And in the business of thieving, he's very successful indeed. Ikey's partner in crime is his mistress, the forthright Mary Abacus, until misfortune befalls them. They are parted and each must make the harsh journey from thriving nineteenth-century London to the convict settlement of Van Diemen's Land.

'In the backstreets and dives of Hobart Town, Mary learns the art of brewing and builds the Potato Factory, where she plans a new future. But her ambitions are threatened by Ikey's wife, Hannah, her old enemy. The two women raise their separate families, one legitimate and the other bastard. As each woman sets out to destroy the other, the families are brought to the edge of disaster.' (Publication summary)

 

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , Alan Seymour , ( dir. Robert Marchand ) Australia : Screentime Golden Square Pictures , 2000 Z829450 2000 single work film/TV

'The story [of] Ikey Soloman (the inspiration for Charles Dicken's Fagin in Oliver Twist), his mistress Mary Abacus and Ikey's wife Hannah. Set in London and Van Dieman's [sic] Land (Tasmania) in the mid-19th century'.

Source: NFSA. (Sighted: 11/11/2013)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 8024033306428145093.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 666p.
      ISBN: 0855616539
    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mandarin , 1996 .
      image of person or book cover 5087394030256811133.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 666p.
      ISBN: 1863305319
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Heinemann ,
      1996 .
      image of person or book cover 3271392148777337332.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 666p.
      ISBN: 0434146137
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mandarin ,
      1996 .
      image of person or book cover 6975282063137597195.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 739p.
      ISBN: 0749322632 (pbk.)
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2000 .
      image of person or book cover 7874701123156367776.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 832p.
      ISBN: 0140279032 (pbk.)
    • c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Penguin Books ,
      2006 .
      image of person or book cover 4004812026658904991.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 848p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: June 2006
      ISBN: 9780143004561

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

26 Aussie Books You Must Read Blanche Clark , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 24 January 2015; (p. 18-19)
'With Australia Day upons us...26 great Australian Books that have helped shape and define our nation...'
Showman Who Knew the Power of a Story Blanche Clark , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 24 November 2012; (p. 26-27)
Historical Fiction Robyn Smythe , 2011 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 10-11 September 2011; (p. 4)
Distortion and Caricature Judith Sackville-O'Donnell , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 175 2004; (p. 47-52)

Sackville-O'Donnell asserts that there are serious flaws in Courtenay's depictions of Ikey and Hannah Solomon, the two Jewish characters in The Potato Factory. (The Solomons were real people and their lives were quite well documented.) Although Courtenay has claimed that his novel was thoroughly and seriously researched, Sackville-O'Donnell contends that Courtenay's claims cannot be substantiated.

Providing examples of inconsistencies between the fictional representation and historical documents, Sackville-O'Donnell suggests that 'Courtenay has distorted and ignored the vast bulk of documented material on Ikey Solomon, and created a grotesque Jewish caricature that has nothing in common with the complex personality that is the documented Ikey Solomon.'

Offensive : Bryce Courtenay's Distortion of Isaac "Ikey" Solomon Judith Sackville-O'Donnell , 2004 extract criticism (Distortion and Caricature)
— Appears in: Australian Jewish News , 21 May vol. 70 no. 34 2004; (p. 17)
Courtenay's New Novel Lingers in the Senses Ralph Elliott , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 4 November 1995; (p. C10)

— Review of The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , 1995 single work novel
The Power of One Who Knows What Sells Megan Gressor , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 November 1995; (p. 12A)

— Review of The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , 1995 single work novel
A Never-Ending Tale of Two Authors John Hanrahan , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 11 November 1995; (p. 10)

— Review of The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , 1995 single work novel
Courtenay Boils Up a Winner Tony Baker , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser Magazine , 25 November 1995; (p. 6)

— Review of The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , 1995 single work novel
Dickens with a Twist David Allen , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 November 1995; (p. rev 7)

— Review of The Potato Factory Bryce Courtenay , 1995 single work novel
Offensive : Bryce Courtenay's Distortion of Isaac "Ikey" Solomon Judith Sackville-O'Donnell , 2004 extract criticism (Distortion and Caricature)
— Appears in: Australian Jewish News , 21 May vol. 70 no. 34 2004; (p. 17)
Distortion and Caricature Judith Sackville-O'Donnell , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 175 2004; (p. 47-52)

Sackville-O'Donnell asserts that there are serious flaws in Courtenay's depictions of Ikey and Hannah Solomon, the two Jewish characters in The Potato Factory. (The Solomons were real people and their lives were quite well documented.) Although Courtenay has claimed that his novel was thoroughly and seriously researched, Sackville-O'Donnell contends that Courtenay's claims cannot be substantiated.

Providing examples of inconsistencies between the fictional representation and historical documents, Sackville-O'Donnell suggests that 'Courtenay has distorted and ignored the vast bulk of documented material on Ikey Solomon, and created a grotesque Jewish caricature that has nothing in common with the complex personality that is the documented Ikey Solomon.'

Historical Fiction Robyn Smythe , 2011 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 10-11 September 2011; (p. 4)
Showman Who Knew the Power of a Story Blanche Clark , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 24 November 2012; (p. 26-27)
Sailing Close to the Wind of Anti-Semitism Andrew Field , 1997 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 26 July 1997; (p. wkd 8)
Last amended 13 Feb 2020 09:29:09
Settings:
  • London,
    c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • Van Diemen's Land (1803-1856), Tasmania,
  • 1800-1899
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X