Shame and the Captives

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Historical, Literary
Cover of the book Shame and the Captives by Thomas Keneally, Atria Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Keneally ISBN: 9781476734668
Publisher: Atria Books Publication: February 24, 2015
Imprint: Atria Books Language: English
Author: Thomas Keneally
ISBN: 9781476734668
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication: February 24, 2015
Imprint: Atria Books
Language: English

“If the legendary Schindler’s List was not enough to showcase Thomas Keneally’s literary mastery, then [this novel] surely will” (New York Daily News) as the Booker Prize-winning author reimagines from all sides the drastic true events of the night more than one thousand Japanese POWs staged the largest and bloodiest prison escape of World War II.

Alice is living on her father-in-law’s farm on the edge of an Australian country town, while her husband is held prisoner in Europe. When Giancarlo, an Italian inmate at the prisoner-of-war camp down the road, is assigned to work on the farm, she hopes that being kind to him will somehow influence her husband’s treatment. What she doesn’t anticipate is how dramatically Giancarlo will change the way she understands both herself and the wider world.

What most challenges Alice and her fellow townspeople is the utter foreignness of the thousand-plus Japanese inmates and their deeply held code of honor, which the camp commanders fatally misread. Mortified by being taken alive in battle and preferring a violent death to the shame of living, the Japanese prisoners plan an outbreak with shattering and far-reaching consequences for all the citizens around them.

In a career spanning half a century, Thomas Keneally has proven brilliant at exploring ordinary lives caught up in extraordinary events. With this profoundly gripping and thought-provoking novel, inspired by a notorious incident in New South Wales in 1944, he once again shows why he is celebrated as a writer who “looks into the heart of the human condition with a piercing intelligence that few can match” (Sunday Telegraph).

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“If the legendary Schindler’s List was not enough to showcase Thomas Keneally’s literary mastery, then [this novel] surely will” (New York Daily News) as the Booker Prize-winning author reimagines from all sides the drastic true events of the night more than one thousand Japanese POWs staged the largest and bloodiest prison escape of World War II.

Alice is living on her father-in-law’s farm on the edge of an Australian country town, while her husband is held prisoner in Europe. When Giancarlo, an Italian inmate at the prisoner-of-war camp down the road, is assigned to work on the farm, she hopes that being kind to him will somehow influence her husband’s treatment. What she doesn’t anticipate is how dramatically Giancarlo will change the way she understands both herself and the wider world.

What most challenges Alice and her fellow townspeople is the utter foreignness of the thousand-plus Japanese inmates and their deeply held code of honor, which the camp commanders fatally misread. Mortified by being taken alive in battle and preferring a violent death to the shame of living, the Japanese prisoners plan an outbreak with shattering and far-reaching consequences for all the citizens around them.

In a career spanning half a century, Thomas Keneally has proven brilliant at exploring ordinary lives caught up in extraordinary events. With this profoundly gripping and thought-provoking novel, inspired by a notorious incident in New South Wales in 1944, he once again shows why he is celebrated as a writer who “looks into the heart of the human condition with a piercing intelligence that few can match” (Sunday Telegraph).

More books from Atria Books

Cover of the book Forks Over Knives Family by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Shunning Sarah by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Sweet! Celebrations by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Joe Victim by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Swim by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Beating the Lunch Box Blues by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book El Quinto mundo by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book The E-Word by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Hello Charlie by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book The Mistress of Nothing by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Shanghai Baby by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book The Energy Healing Experiments by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book In the Midnight Room by Thomas Keneally
Cover of the book Oath of Honor by Thomas Keneally
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy