This is part of Australia's history that isn't taught in schools, well it wasn't while I was at school. The story is shockingly violent at times. These violent passages are described in rather a blunt, concise style that is over quickly, but always managed to catch me unawares and made me grimace. Notwithstanding the violence, I enjoyed reading of our early, sea trading history. The 1820s was a time of plundering, dishonesty and every man for himself. The story isn't always pretty, but I can well image that it is an accurate retelling. Set in and around the waters off Tasmania and Western Australia where life was tough and death was either a constant fear or a constant companion. ( )

his novel has received very favourable reviews in the Australian press (see http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/...) so I don't feel too guilty about abandoning it.
I liked Sarah Drummond's previous book Salt Story, but after reading up to page 53 I decided to let this one go. It's a revenge story, a young man's quest for vengeance in the colonial era when there was no justice for indigenous people like him, and so from the beginning I knew there was violence ahead. But there was also ruthlessness in the way the men trade in the Indigenous women of Van Diemen's Land and its offshore islands, and there is brutality in the way that their rape is so commonplace as not to be worthy of comment. There were also vivid descriptions of sealing which are unpleasant to read.
This is obviously historically accurate, but it doesn't make me want to read about it.
I haven't rated it because I don't rate books I haven't finished.