# The Secret River

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/kate-grenville/the-secret-river

JSON version (same data): https://www.bookquiver.com/kate-grenville/the-secret-river.json

![The Secret River](https://quivercdn.com/covers/canongate/kate-grenville/the-secret-river_978-08-5786-084-2.jpg?v=2026-05-22%2011%3A16%3A46)

- Authors: [Kate Grenville](https://www.bookquiver.com/kate-grenville), [Rupert Penry-Jones](https://www.bookquiver.com/rupert-penry-jones)
- Language: en_GB
- Published: 2007-04-05

## Description

This story is set in London, 1807. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But, among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that 'unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself, he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs. Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life...

## Editions

### The Secret River

- Publisher: canongate
- ISBN: 978-08-5786-084-2
- Published: 2018-07-24
- Language: en_GB

### The Secret River

- Publisher: little_brown_audio
- Medium: audio
- ISBN: 978-14-0550-334-1
- Published: 2007-04-05
- Language: en_GB