Imprint
- Sceptre
- Sceptre
Fiction, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Historical fiction
'A subtle examination of innocence and guilt' (Observer).
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.
Praise for By the Line
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A subtle examination of innocence and guilt - Observer
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Reflects on indoctrination and the holy innocence of its victims, while suffusing everyday life with a spirituality of its own - Scotsman
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If you are inclined to avoid anything written by winners of the Booker Prize, make an exception for Thomas Keneally - Literary Review
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Reading Keneally's prose is like walking on the sort of turf that puts a spring in your step - Listener
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Keneally, of Irish extraction, was brought up in Australia and still lives in Sydney. His novels include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Confederates (which first led him to study nineteenth century American history). Schindler's Ark was later turned into as remarkable a film by Steven Spielberg under the title Schindler's List.
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