The Lieutenant | Kate Grenville | Book of the Month | August 2020

While Kate is not Aboriginal, i chose this book as a follow up to The Secret River (if you havent read it yet- DO!! It is incredible, though very challenging 😥, reading and also on Netflix/ABC IView).

We found though, that The Lieutenant doesnt really relate to The Secret River though. Its kind of odd that they are considered a trilogy!

But as long as you aren't expecting a follow up to The Secret River then this book is a good read!

The Lieutenant was inspired by a real story hidden for two centuries in the pages of a couple of shabby blue notebooks stored in a London manuscript library. The notebooks belonged to William Dawes, a soldier in the first days of the Colony of New South Wales, and they record his efforts to learn the language of the indigenous people of Sydney. Between the lines they reveal an extraordinary friendship – warm, playful and respectful – between him and one of his teachers, a young indigenous girl called Patyegarang.