The year is 1837 and ex-convict Jack Maggs has returned illegally to London from Australia. Installing himself in the household of a genteel grocer, he attracts the attention of a cross-section of society. Saucy Mercy Larkin wants him for a mate. Writer Tobias Oates wants to possess his soul through hypnosis. Maggs, a figure both frightening and mysteriously compelling, is so in thrall to the notion of a gentlemanly class that he's risked his life to come back to his torturers. His task is to shed his false consciousness and understand that his true destiny lies in Australia.

Author Biography

Peter Carey is a zoologist who has made more than 80 trips to Antarctica, including research expeditions with the New Zealand Antarctic Programme and the Australian National Antarctic research expedition. He has also worked as a lecturer and expedition leader on many Antarctic cruise ships. Peter has conducted research on penguin behaviour, sea-bird ecology, fish physiology and the social behaviour of seals. He visits Antarctica every summer and is working to ecologically restore a group of small islands in the Falklands Archipelago. As director of the conservation organisation SAFER (Subantarctic Foundation for Ecosystems Research), he is actively involved in improving the wildlife habitat of these islands. http-//www.awapress.com/authors-Peter-Carey