Overview

Ian Reid's fourth historical novel is a gripping story about the twists and turns of conscience, racial and sexual tensions, the limits of historical enquiry, and legacies of guilt and shame. Released from Dartmoor Prison in 1889, a black man breaks back into it soon afterwards. Interned in the same gaol during World War 1, a conscientious objector seems to invite trouble and seek harsh punishment. On a modern Australian university campus, a Turkish student is mysteriously killed. The suspenseful action of A Thousand Tongues gradually reveals how these enigmas are interlinked. The author's prose is always vivid and evocative, almost poetic. The dialogue, moral dilemmas and contradictions are all handled with equally exquisite expression. It's been a long time since I came to the end of a novel and immediately wanted to read it again to uncover more of its nuances. Ian Reid is a revelation, and deserves the widest recognition as a remarkable ambassador for Australian historical fiction. Historical Novel Review (U.K.) A great gathering of personality, character after character, in irreducible and fully imagined life... Ian Reid gives us the 'life-surplus' of history: love and journeys and work and ideas, fear and purposeful action and sometimes failure, all playing out before us in this big and beautifully balanced novel of character. Brenda Walker, author of Reading by Moonlight

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9780648522300

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Reviews

The author's prose is always vivid and evocative, almost poetic. The dialogue, moral dilemmas and contradictions are all handled with equally exquisite expression. Ian Reid is a revelation, and deserves the widest recognition as a remarkable ambassador for Australian historical fiction. Historical Novel Review (U.K.) A great gathering of personality, character after character, in irreducible and fully imagined life... Love and journeys and work and ideas, fear and purposeful action and sometimes failure, all playing out before us in this big and beautifully balanced novel of character. Rochford Street Review Reid richly evokes the abandoned English worlds of those who travel to the antipodes, whose loss is therefore the more poignant. Turn by turn he engages us with his characters' untidy and unruly fates in an assured work of historical reconstruction and imagination. The Australian Wherever his characters go, Ian Reid places us vividly there. The Age Reid scores a considerable success in recreating the hard-scrabble frontier towns of an age that is increasingly alien to our own. The reader encounters a pageant of nineteenth-century lives here...a realistic portrait of a bleak world. Australian Book Review Skilfully realised... How well does any person know the 'truth' of another? The gradual revelation of clues allows the reader to become the detective in pursuit of truth. Transnational Literature Compelling... intense... poetic... it stayed with me and has been hard to shake off. Sydney Morning Herald Reid's vivid writing and attention to historical detail result in settings and characters that make for an enthralling and immersive reading experience. Writing WA Compelling fictional characters that leap off the page with all the veracity of their historical counterparts... It is historical detective fiction and social commentary rolled into one. The texture shimmers. The West Australian A cleverly written piece of historical fiction ... a complex story of mystery and intrigue... I was completely absorbed from the first page until the final scene. Bookseller And Publisher

Author Information

Ian Reid is the author of more than a dozen books - fiction, poetry and several kinds of non-fiction. His writings have been translated into five languages and won international acclaim including the Antipodes prize for poetry. A Thousand Tongues is his fourth historical novel. He lives in Perth and is an Adjunct Professor in English and Cultural Studies at the University of Western Australia. His website is at www.ianreid-author.com

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