By the Line

Description

Schoolboy narrator Daniel Jordan, growing up in working-class Sydney during the Second World War, is confused by a world in which the religious dogma of his school conflicts with the communism of his family's terrifying neighbour, the 'Comrade'. Refreshingly unsentimental, this is the funny, ultimately tragic story of a boy struggling to understand a world in which concepts like innocence and guilt, good and evil are clearly open to interpretation.

Thomas Keneally has been shortlisted for the Booker four times and won it with Schindler's Ark in 1982. His novels have been filmed (Schindler's List and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith) and dramatised (The Playmaker). He has also written several works of non-fiction, including The Place Where Souls are Born, about the American Southwest, and Homebush Boy, a memoir.

A subtle examination of innocence and guilt - Observer Reflects on indoctrination and the holy innocence of its victims, while suffusing everyday life with a spirituality of its own - Scotsman If you are inclined to avoid anything written by winners of the Booker Prize, make an exception for Thomas Keneally - Literary Review Reading Keneally's prose is like walking on the sort of turf that puts a spring in your step - Listener