Book description
Artem Samsurov, a protégé of Lenin, makes an extraordinary escape
from Tsarist Russia to reach sanctuary in Australia, but soon
discovers that repression and injustice exist there too. Though
distracted by an infatuation with a beautiful female lawyer, he throws
himself back into the socialist cause, only to be imprisoned, then
accused of murdering an informer. But he never loses his belief that
the revolution will come - and in 1917, he returns to Russia alongside
an Australian journalist to fight for it. Based on a true story,
Keneally's enthralling novel takes us to the heart of the Russian
Revolution through the dramatic exploits of one inspiring man. Once
again, he illuminates a seismic period of history from an intimate,
unusual perspective as he captures the ideals and passions behind a
movement that changed the world.
'Thomas Keneally's impersonation of translated prose, artfully
achieved, is studded with strange poeticisms...a sturdy achievement,
expertly constructed and paced...One of its major pleasures is to be
found in the way in which the author has braided together the factual
and the invented.' Thomas Keneally began his writing career in 1964
and has published twenty-five novels since. They include SCHINDLER'S
ARK, which won the Booker Prize in 1982 and was subsequently made into
the film Schindler's List, and THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH,
CONFEDERATES and GOSSIP FROM THE FOREST, each of which was shortlisted
for the Booker Prize. His most recent novels are THE TYRANT'S NOVEL, THE
WIDOW AND HER HERO and THE PEOPLE'S TRAIN. He has also written several
works of non-fiction, including his boyhood memoir HOMEBUSH BOY, THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THIEVES and SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER. He is married with
two daughters and lives in Sydney.
