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The Sooterkin
Author(s): Tom Gilling (Author)
- Publisher: Viking Adult
- Publication Date: June 5, 2000
- Edition: First Edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 224 pages
- ISBN-10: 0670891525
- ISBN-13: 9780670891528
Book Description
A Dickensian tale set in early eighteenth-century Australia follows the hilarious adventures of an ex-convict and her husband after they give birth to a seal pup. A first novel. 12,500 first printing.
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
The unusual title is only a hint of what is to come in this extraordinary book. In 1821, a village in Australia is thrown into shock when a woman gives birth to a male childDwho resembles a seal pup more than a human infant. While the local authorities try to determine if the birth is authentic or an attempt to con the community, the mother names the newborn Arthur and treats him as if he were any other child. His older brother, Ned, is entrusted with daily visits to the ocean shore where the pup can splash and frolic. Father William spends most of his time in the local pubs, figuring out how he can work this situation to his best advantage. First-time novelist Gilling shows a sharp and clever sense of humor as he introduces us to this microcosm of quirky characters. First published in Australia to great acclaim, this fantastical story is not going to appeal to all readers but should find a following in the libraries where authors like Alice Hoffman, Sherman Alexie, or Gabriel Garc!a M rquez are popular.DKaren Traynor, Sullivan Free Lib., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An Australian newcomer vividly evokes a topsy-turvy world Down Under where convicts become respectable citizens, mammals lay eggs, and a seal born to a woman stirs up a rich broth of confusion.As much a gentle satire on Australia’s less-than-respectable past as an unsentimental tribute to unlikely family devotion, the story is set in Hobart, the capital of Van Diemens Land (today called Tasmania) during the early 19th century. It covers the months following the birth of Arthur, a seal pup, to former convict Sarah Dyer and her husband William, a dishonorably discharged soldier. Hobart is a rough, hard-drinking, rumor-ridden place populated by convicts transported from Britain, remittance men, and fortune-seekers. Almost everyone has a shady past. Reverend Kidney is actually a layman who took the job of chaplain because he was heavily in debt. His housekeeper and the town’s midwife, Mrs. Jakes, is a convicted abortionist. The country surrounding Hobart is plagued by bands of outlaws who rob and plunder the farmsteads, murdering farmers and unwary travelers. When Sarah gives birth to Arthur, with Mrs. Jakes in attendance, she and elder son Ned lovingly embrace the new addition. William, a habitual drunk, is less certain. The birth is a sensation in a place hungry for novelty. The chaplain believes the baby has been sent by God; Mr. Sculley, a would-be scientist, thinks it is a Sooterkin, a mysterious hybrid creature; and the locals just want to ogle it. Sarah, a loving but practical mother, capitalizes on their curiosity by charging for a look-see. When Arthur starts singing, weak-willed William succumbs to the blandishments of an entrepreneurial doctor who offers to buy him. Loyal Ned then embarks on a dangerous and picaresque search to find his brother.A literate and imaginative, if sometimes strained, riff on the provocative power of the unusual in a strange and distant place. — Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
… the novel itself has the intoxicating fragrance of magic – and magical storytelling. — New York Post, June 11, 2000
As a witty witty summer read, it’s as slippery and unexpected as a… well, you know. —
The Christian Science Monitor, June 8, 2000Extraordinary book. —
Library Journal, June 15, 2000Like his countryman Peter Carey, Gilling isn’t shy about applying a fun-house mirror to an old-fashioned adventure, playing sly modern games with appearance and reality. —
The New York Times Book Review, Alida BeckerAbout the Author
Tom Gilling, born in England, emigrated to Australia at the age of twenty-two. His journalism has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Bulletin, and Rolling Stone. The Sooterkin, his first novel, received universal Australian acclaim and has been short-listed for the prestigious Vance Palmer Fiction Award. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
