Scapegallows [Paperback]

Carol Birch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

A convict colony in New South Wales, Australia is the setting for Carol Birch's new novel, based on real events. New South Wales, 1817. Margaret Catchpole is stranded at a settler's homestead as the floodwater draws in, and she finds herself facing death - as she has several times before. She looks back over her life - the complex and stormy partnership with Will Laud, a 'hell-born-babe', that led her into the world of smuggling and into a double life. After Will is forced to flee the country, Margaret is taken on as a nursemaid by the wealthy Cobbold family, but a crime against them means she is tried and sentenced to hang. She avoids death but when an elaborate gaol escape fails, Will is shot dead and Margaret captured. Sentenced once more to hang, she looks death full in the face. But she doesn't die. Her sentence is transmuted to transportation for life to Australia. The novel explores a deeply divided society. Ironically, by reaching the lowest depths and being cast out by the society which spawned her, Margaret finds her true role as an independent pioneer in a young colony.

Editorial Reviews

Review

** 'Birch deftly tells a story spanning several decades, with an intensity that is ... lyrical ... and evokes the period without compromising her complex diachronic concerns TLS ** '[Birch has] a first class voice ... An exciting and evocative fictional version of the life of Margaret Catchpole ... The novel is a triumph of texture and historical detail' SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Birch deftly tells a story spanning several decades, with an intensity that is ... lyrical ... and evokes the period without compromising her complex diachronic concerns' TLS ** 'A rich portrait of a shadowy world of 18th century sailors and smugglers, full of characters both charming and fatally flawed. Fans of Margaret Atwood's ALIAS GRACE will enjoy this engaging and compassionate tale' PSYCHOLOGIES ** 'Birch is a naturally literary writer who can, with a simple image, evoke the deepest emotion' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Carol Birch was born in Manchester. Author of seven novels, she has won the David Higham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was longlisted for the 2003 ManBooker Prize. She lives in Lancaster.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Virago Press Ltd (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844085074
• ISBN-13: 978-1844085071
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, January 13, 2012

By 

Julian Faigan (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scapegallows (Paperback)

I wished this novel was three times as long! I have rarely read such a gripping account of an errant life, so eloquently told. In its references to colonial Australia, it reminded me in parts of the excellent "English Passengers" by Matthew Kneale. I am lost in admiration for Carol Birch, having loved her more recent "Jamrach's Menagerie". She is clearly one of the finest story tellers writing today.