Beneath a waterfall on the Franklin, Aljaz Cosini, river guide, lies drowning. Beset by visions at once horrible and fabulous, he relives not just his own life but that of his family and forebears. In the rainforest waters that rush over him he sees those lives stripped of their surface realities, and finds a world where dreaming reasserts its power over thinking. As the river rises, his visions grow more turbulent, and in the flood of his past Aljaz discovers the soul history of his country. Richard Flanagan's 1994 debut about a mythical Tasmania dazzled readers around the world, and is now recognised as one of the most powerful and original Australian novels of recent decades.

Author Biography

Richard Flanagan was born in Tasmania in 1961. Regarded internationally as one of Australia's best novelists, his multi-award-winning novels, Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Gould's Book of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist, and Wanting have been published to popular success and critical acclaim in twenty-five countries. His most recent work is a collection of his non-fiction pieces, And What Do You Do, Mr Gable?. He lives in Hobart with his family.