That Untravelled World

9781742583969

You can read an excerpt from the novel here.

Monique Mulligan’s interview with me in her ‘Author Insight’ series refers particularly to aspects of That Untravelled World: you can read it here.

Gemma Nisbet’s interview with me for The West Australian is here.

Brenton Doecke’s speech when launching the book is here.

Excerpts from various reviews of the novel are collected below.

  • The Australian: ‘Perth comes alive in Reid’s hands, and throughout the book Western Australia’s regional towns are deftly depicted… We are persuaded to ask to what extent we can let unfair disadvantage dictate how we live the remainder of our lives.’
  • Trust News Australia: ‘To weave characters into a story based on primary sources is a real gift. Ian Reid’s That Untravelled World more than meets the challenge…drawing the reader into a walk through time, from pre WW1 to the outbreak of WW2…through the power of storytelling… The descriptions of Western Australia ground the novel in an almost tangible sense of place… Dreams and disillusion, difficult and concealed family relationships, racism, the Depression, regional disenfranchisement, the tyranny of distance, as well as the pros and cons of technological advancement, fill this novel. They are themes that speak to our present society.’
  • World Literature Today: ‘Celebrated author Ian Reid’s latest tale is the incredible journey of a young man through the Great War, the Depression, and the years after.’
  • Bonzer: ‘This fine novel presents a story faithful to its period… That Untravelled World covers the gamut of human emotion, from passion to apathy, ecstasy to dysphoria, sacrifice to indulgence, and love to racism.’
  • Have a Go: ‘This has everything – snippets of Perth’s history, lots of philosophy, a little geography and marvellous descriptions… Ian Reid cleverly steers the reader into false assumptions… [as he] acquaints us with our own journey into the untravelled world of aspirations and life experiences that are encountered as we struggle with broken dreams and upheavals on our way to becoming sadder and wiser. Buy this book – you won’t be disappointed.’

Various blogs also carry laudatory posts about That Untravelled World, such as the following by fellow-novelist Iris Lavell:

  • ‘Beautifully written and eminently readable… I enjoyed the finely balanced structure of the story, its accuracy, restrained telling, and the way in which the era, age and physicality of the [main] character, at various stages of his life, is so clearly evoked. At the same time, seen through Harry’s eyes, there is compassion for each of the characters, damaged and flawed as they are.’

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