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I have had the pleasure of reading author Rohan Wilson's first two novels in quick succession and am glad I have. The first, The Roving Party, was a very good historical fiction based on actual events that portrayed the brutality Van Diemans Land during that colony's Black Wars. Such was its impact I started this one immediately.
To Name Those Lost brings back the boy from The Roving Party, Thomas Toosey, as a now old man looking for redemption after a brutal life. We follow his quest in his search for his lost son. There is a strong cast of characters that come onto the story, each with a big part to play in Toosey's search.
Rohan Wilson has again somehow written bleak but beautiful prose in what is a more narrative driven approach than his debut novel. I would suggest that those that also like a defined story may find this novel more to their liking than the debut that gave the reader more to think about in thematic terms.
That is not meant to be criticism of this book. There are certainly themes such as (the above mentioned) redemptive qualities, love for family and the worth of revenge. And like his previous novel man's inhumanity to his fellow man looms large. As with a well written historical novel the reader must learn from the events. I knew nothing of the Launceston Railway Riots 1874 that play a big part in the telling of this tale. Oh for a time machine!
http://launcestonhistory.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/142Feb20141.pdf
Recommended to those that enjoy very good historical novels and to those that have been to sleepy Launceston and had no idea of its historical past.
