Gould's Book of Fish

Acclaimed novel based on the life of botanic artist William Buelow Gould (1801-53). In this account, Gould is a white convict condemned to the most feared penal colony in the British Empire, Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1828 and there ordered to paint a book of fish. Gould, invader of Australia, liar, murderer and forger, falls in love with a black woman and discovers too late that to love is not safe. The book's design features colour reproductions of Gould's original art work, and each chapter is printed in a different colour ink. The book has been awarded the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize and Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal, and the Australian Publisher's Association 2002 Joyce Thorpe Nicholson Best Designed Book of the Year, Hodder Headline Best Designed Literary Fiction Book, and Publishing Project of the Year awards. Other titles by the author include 'The Sound of One Hand Clapping' and 'Death of a River Guide'.