Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish

richard flanagan

Once upon a time that was called 1828, before all the living things on the land and the fishes in the sea were destroyed, there was a man named William Buelow Gould, a convict in Van Dieman's Land who fell in love with a black woman and discovered too late that to love is not safe. Silly Billy Gould, invader of Australia, liar, murderer, forger, fantasist, condemned to live in the most brutal penal colony in the British Empire, and there ordered to paint a book of fish. Once upon a time, miraculous things happened...

Genres fictionhistorical fictionaustraliahistoricalnovelsliterary fictionliteraturetasmaniaunfinishedcontemporary

404 pages, Paperback

First published June 1,1997

Literary awards

miles franklin literary award, victorian premiers literary award, australian literature society gold medal, commonwealth writers prize, als gold medal,

Places

tasmania, van diemensland,

This edition

Format: 404 pages, Paperback
Published: March 15, 2003 by Atlantic Books
ISBN: 9781843540700
ASIN: 1843540703
Language: English

About the author

richard flanagan

Richard Flanagan (born 1961) is an author, historian and film director from Tasmania, Australia. He was president of the Tasmania University Union and a Rhodes Scholar. Each of his novels has attracted major praise. His first, Death of a River Guide (1994), was short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award, as were his next two, The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) and Gould's Book of Fish (2001). His earlier, non-fiction titles include books about the Gordon River, student issues, and the story of conman John Friedrich.
Two of his novels are set on the West Coast of Tasmania; where he lived in the township of Rosebery as a child. Death of a River Guide relates to the Franklin River, Gould's Book of Fish to the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, and The Sound of One Hand Clapping to the Hydro settlements in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.