South of Darkness in Aussie Readers

Aug 08, 2014 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-authors, historical-fiction, borrowed-from-library, 2014-release

Barnaby Fletch had not known anything in his young life beyond what the vagabonds and homeless all called “Hell”. This den of iniquity was officially known on the maps as East Smithfield and the local church was St Martin’s – the mid to late 1700s in London was a desolate place; a place where only the rich prospered. So young Barnaby, orphaned at a tender age and having to survive in the slums of “Hell” was always hungry, fairly well friendless and trying to survive with petty theft his only opt ...more

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Aug 06, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-author, provided-by-publisher, arc-are

John Marsden is best known for 'The Tomorrow Series' though he has written and published at least a dozen more middle grade to young adult novels as well as a handful of non fiction works.

"Having been asked by the Rvd Mr Johnson to jot down a few notes about my upbringing and the manner of my arrival in the colony, I will attempt to do so, but I should say at the outset that I have little of interest to relate. I have not contributed much worth to the world, as will no doubt become obvious in
John Marsden is best known for 'The Tomorrow Series' though he has written and published at least a dozen more middle grade to young adult novels as well as a handful of non fiction works.

"Having been asked by the Rvd Mr Johnson to jot down a few notes about my upbringing and the manner of my arrival in the colony, I will attempt to do so, but I should say at the outset that I have little of interest to relate. I have not contributed much worth to the world, as will no doubt become obvious in the pages that follow..."

South of Darkness is Marsden's first novel for adults and features a young man by the name of Barnaby Fletch. It begins in late 18th century London where Fletch is struggling to survive on the streets of 'Hell'. Orphaned at the tender age of 5, or thereabouts, he sleeps under bridges, thieving food to survive, his only friend another street rat named Austin. Though he is a recipient of some kindness by a church priest and later a family who fishes him half drowned out of the Thames, Barnaby is a hapless sort of fellow who often finds himself in dire straits and on one occasion, aged about 12, he sees no way out of a terrible situation other than to get himself transported to New South Wales to start a new life in the land that promises space and sunshine.

I have to be honest and admit that though I enjoyed Barnaby's adventures, my experience of the narrative was not unlike that of reading an extended account from a school textbook as part of a history lesson. South of Darkness is related in the first person past tense by the aforementioned Barnaby Fletch, with not much in the way of dialogue and a tendency to tell rather than show.

I have no doubt that the historical details of Barnaby's experiences are authentic, though his life is fictional. Marsden deftly evokes the grim streets of London, the bobbing transport ship, and the landscape of the fledgling Australian colony. I'm fairly familiar with the experiences of British convicts from an obsession with the era when I was in my mid teens but Barnaby's interactions with the Australian 'Indians' (indigenous) are not something I had read about before.

South of Darkness is a tale of survival, adventure, fortitude and hope. Though I feel it lacks some excitement it is still a fascinating account of the era and a young boys life. I assume there will be more to come from Marsden as the end of South of Darkness leaves room for a continuation of Barnaby Fletch's tale through adolescence and beyond. ...more

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May 28, 2018 Mish rated it liked it

Shelves: australian-authors

It troubles me to say what I’m about to say about this novel because I loved everything I’ve read from John Marsden, and the context of the book is an important part of Australian history. There’s no doubt that South of Darkness is informative, skillfully researched, and the voice and mannerism of his characters for this time period is authentic, but the story just didn’t engage me. I felt like was reading a history textbook; it was rather boring at times.
Sorry John Marsden…

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May 25, 2016 Jane rated it it was ok

I was very disappointed in this book. I thought there was too much written about the narrator's early life in London as the story is supposed to be about his journey to New South Wales, which doesn't begin until about half way through the book. John Marsden is obviously setting up for a sequel. Too many Americanisms in 19th century London: "we hightailed it out of there", "he dove into a pile of rubbish" for example. I had trouble with the narrator's voice: that of a highly educated gentleman ra ...more

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Apr 05, 2015 Ace Taylor rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, european-history, australian-history, australian-authors, englands-history

oh I loved this book. john Marsden is one of my favorite authors and while I love the first fleet I didn't know much about the third. There are enough similarities and enough detail that it was enjoyable. ...more

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