Rush Oh! - Softcover

Barrett, Shirley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 031626153X ISBN 13: 9780316261531

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2017

Synopsis

An impassioned, charming, and hilarious debut novel about a young woman's coming-of-age, during one of the harshest whaling seasons in the history of New South Wales. 1908: It's the year that proves to be life-changing for our teenage narrator, Mary Davidson, tasked with providing support to her father's boisterous whaling crews while caring for five brothers and sisters in the wake of their mother's death. But when the handsome John Beck-a former Methodist preacher turned novice whaler with a mysterious past-arrives at the Davidson's door pleading to join her father's crews, suddenly Mary's world is upended.

As her family struggles to survive the scarcity of whales and the vagaries of weather, and as she navigates sibling rivalries and an all-consuming first love for the newcomer John, nineteen-year-old Mary will soon discover a darker side to these men who hunt the seas, and the truth of her place among them.

Swinging from Mary's own hopes and disappointments to the challenges that have beset her family's whaling operation, RUSH OH! is an enchanting blend of fact and fiction that's as much the story of its gutsy narrator's coming-of-age as it is the celebration of an extraordinary episode in history.

About this title

Review

"Beautiful and brutal, witty and kind, "Rush Oh!" is a story of great surprises and a beating heart--a book to never forget." "Markus Zusak, author of "The Book Thief"""

"Beautiful and brutal, witty and kind, "RUSH OH!" is a story of great surprises and a beating heart--a book to never forget." "Markus Zusak, author of "The Book Thief"""

"Hugely funny and peopled with a cast of characters I came to treasure like my own friends, "RUSH OH!" reminded me why I love reading." "Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites""

"This is an engaging novel of whaling, love, family, place, and passion. Shirley Barrett has fashioned an old-fashioned tale steeped in the first decade of the twentieth century and set in Eden, in New South Wales. Its focus is whales and the men who hunt them down. But the novel is much more than that. It's a poetic meditation on love in its many forms, and raw desire-need brought to a height of drama in appalling and sometimes beautiful circumstances. RUSH OH! is terrific.""" "Jay Parini, author of "The Last Station"""

"Barrett is a marvel. By turns matter-of-fact and romantic, comical and historical, "RUSH OH!" is always utterly charming, and I know I will make repeated visits to Mary and her world." "Alison Jean Lester, author of "Lillian on Life"""

"Cinematic. The tale of a whaling family, its scope is ambitious and its heart big. You'll fall in love." "Marie Claire (Australia)""

"Effervescent.... Barrett's vivid prose gives savour to a highly enjoyable and unusual yarn." "Peter Pierce, "Sydney Morning Herald"""

"A light-hearted tale of the 1908 whaling season in a small New South Wales town." "The Guardian""

""RUSH OH! "is a whale of a book, filled with humor and pathos and exciting, bloody battles between man and beast. This is the best sort of historical fiction, as entertaining as it is illuminating about whaling, orcas, sisterhood, and the poignant end of a dangerous and brave era." "Sharma Shields, author of The Sasquatch Hunter's" Almanac"""

"An engaging novel of whaling, love, family, place, and passion. Shirley Barrett has fashioned an old-fashioned tale steeped in the first decade of the twentieth century and set in Eden, in New South Wales. Its focus is whales and the men who hunt them down. But the novel is much more than that. It's a poetic meditation on love in its many forms, and raw desire-need brought to a height of drama in appalling and sometimes beautiful circumstances. RUSH OH! is terrific.""" "Jay Parini, author of "The Last Station"""

Book Description

Rush Oh! is a deeply moving and captivating novel that will capture listeners' imaginations and launch a brilliant new voice in fiction.

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 031626153X
• ISBN 13: 9780316261531
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368