City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Fanatic heart, Tom Keneally ; read by David Tredinnick

eng

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fiction

Fanatic heart

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Tom Keneally ; read by David Tredinnick

John Mitchel, Irishman, lawyer, journalist, activist and politician, is a complex character. Charged with treason in Ireland and tried by an English judge he was snuck off mainland Ireland on the day he was charged to avoid a breakout and rebellion. He was transported initially to Bermuda, then to South Africa and then to Van Diemen's Land where as an Irishman he was supported by many and given a ticket of leave. He was eventually secreted out of Australia to the USA, where it was felt he could be more active for the Irish cause. To support her husband through all the charges against him, Jenny Mitchel, publicly supported his campaigns. She also packed up her many children and followed her prisoner and convict husband to a number of different continents to continue to support her husband and their beliefs. Tom Keneally, a proud Irishman and descendant of convicts, disagrees with many of Mitchel's beliefs and behaviours and has to wrestle with these conflicts in the novel

adult

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