This book comes highly recommended by a friend of mine. It is a Booker Prize Finalist.

In 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their illicit goods confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship Sincerity up for charter.

I received this Book Relay in the mail today. Thanks so much!

I just couldn't get into this book!

Mailing this relay book to JDT tomorrow!

Perfect timing! My on-line book group is discussing this book for August.

Thanks so much, sdkelley!

I picked this up from JDT tonight at the meeting. As I was an exchange student to Tasmania, I really want to read this book. :)

You're the perfect recipient for this book, caligula03. Hope you enjoy the Tasmania connection - as well as the quirky story line and characters.

Book is still here although my bookshelves seem to have eaten the book right when I'm ready to read it.

The book had its moments, especially the scenes that take place with the sailors during their brief soujourn to Tasmania but over all the constant moving between characters, time lines and writing styles dragged down an otherwise straight forward historical fiction about a smuggler forced to take a group of fantatics to Tasmania to pay off his customs fines. My favorite scenes were those involving encounters with wombats. They really do try to burrow under or in anything so I could completely believe one burrowing itself between the two hulls of the ship (I once saw one burrowing under an over-turned canoe). The author also captured well the danger of hiking through the south western corner of Tasmania (from Cradle mountain -- aka Wilson's mountain -- out to the shore). All these years later it is still a very dangerous and untamed land.

RELEASE NOTES:

RABCKing to Ebumu.

This RABCK arrived safely today from caligula03. Thanks very much! I wanted to read it because I tend to like Booker Prize books, and this was a finalist. I hope to get to it soon.