Fiction New Colonies

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2006.

London, 1807: William Thornhill makes a mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales. The Thornhills arrive in a harsh and alien land that they do not understand. When William claims a hundred acres for himself, he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on it - and that other recent arrivals are finding their own ways to respond to them.

Life has become something new and vastly different. Gift and her friends have begun the exciting adventure of exploring the wondrous outside. A breathable—though not quite fully livable—environment beyond the domes and corridors. Communication and regular trade with The Russian Federation was going well. The New Europa colony saw the dawn of a new era for humanity. Acclimation to the outside environment was priority one. Creeping to second was talk of mysterious outsiders. What new challenges awaited? What unimaginable obstacles were about to manifest for Gift and her friends?

Today's billionaires (you know the ones) are building spaceships and are convinced our future must be made on Mars. Colony's Dawn imagines life in a sealed colony after a couple of centuries where no one had ever stepped outside or seen the sky. Not everyone is content to fill their role.

Terpsichore can't wait to follow in Laura Ingalls Wilder's footsteps...now she just has to convince her mom. It's 1934, and times are tough for their family. To make a fresh start, Terpsichore’s father signs up for President Roosevelt's Palmer Colony project, uprooting them from Wisconsin to become pioneers in Alaska. Their new home is a bit of a shock - it's a town still under construction in the middle of the wilderness, where the residents live in tents and share a community outhouse. But Terpsichore’s not about to let first impressions get in the way of this grand adventure.

Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth; and the defiant Hester Prynne, who, unwilling to name her partner in adultery, is condemned to wear a scarlet "A" on the breast of her gown for the remainder of her life.