Wrack

"Wrack. A Novel" by James Bradley. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1998. A novel set in Australia, about two love stories that take place fifty years apart, brought together by the common theme of the search for the Portuguese ship, the first European vessel to discover Australia. In the late 1930s, just before World War II erupted, Kurt and Veronica became involved. Veronica Marshall was upper class, and Kurt Seligman a poor student. Kurt worries about the condition of his poor clothes, his inability to pay the lunch tab, etc., but Veronica ignores all of that. They become lovers. But then, Veronica marries Fraser McDonald. Not only has Kurt lost Veronica, his lover, but, of all things, she has become the wife of his thesis advisor! Heaven help us. The second love story is between David and Claire and set in the 1990s. David is a widower and Claire, a medical doctor, has just moved back after a failed affair. In some sense, then, both individuals are on the "rebound". Fortunately, Claire, as a doctor, is available to keep the old man, Kurt, medicated and alive as David attempts to pry the secret from him of the Portuguese ship. And the ship is the central unifying theme of this book. Sixty plus years ago, Fraser McDonald and Kurt Seligman were looking for the wreck of the Portuguese mahogany ship that was rumored to have sailed around the continent of Australia. In the 1990s, David is looking for the same vessel. Kurt is dying and Claire assists David by keeping the old man, Kurt, both alive and lucid. The story jumps back and forth between Kurt/Veronica and David/Claire, with side explanations of the Portuguese exploration of Africa, India and the Orient. Did a Portuguese vessel actually make the journey from Goa, India, down to the then unknown continent of Australia? Was the Portuguese red mahogany wreck buried in the beach sands and did Kurt know the location? While developing both love stories, the author also finds it necessary to develop the history of map making, and to give a synopsis of Portuguese exploration contemporary with Columbus and other explorers of Spain. The brief history of Portuguese exploration by James Bradley in this novel is better than most text books, where Spanish exploration dominates the pages. (A recent example of this emphasis on Spanish exploration is: "The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus" by David Abulafia.) So, in this novel you get two love stories, an introduction to maps, a synopsis of the history of Portuguese exploration, the Australians in Singapore as the Japanese advance down the peninsula, and it all begins with the discovery of a mummified body in the beach sands. Read the book to find out if the Portuguese wreck is found.

This story of intersecting love triangles is a thoroughly absorbing but ultimately unsatisfying read. The opening pages promise a depth of emotion that is never fully realized as the book prgresses. Still the skillfull writing and a powerful grasp of history show that Bradley is capable of great things. I expect to see truly extraordinary work as his writing matures.

James Bradley's thoroughly fictional! historical debut novel is fabulous. He takes you on a roller coaster ride of the emotions while exploring the effects of grief and love and loss on the life of the 3 main characters. Allow this thoroughly visual and original novel take you away.

Archeologist David Norfolk believes his life's goal is within his grasp as he focuses on the southern tip of Australia's New South Wales. David expects to uncover a sixteenth century Portuguese ship that would radically change the current belief of who discovered the island-continent. Instead of a ship, David finds the remains of a person murdered five decades ago. This leads the archeologist to a nearby hermit, former archeologist Kurt Seligmann, in an attempt to learn the truth about the killing and perhaps the ship. Aided by his former girl friend, David listens to Kurt's sordid tale. Apparently, between 1937 and 1942, Kurt also searched for the missing Portuguese ship that would validate early sixteenth century Europeans maps that display the Australian continent before the Tasman-Cook explorations. However, his mentor's wife sidetracked Kurt as they shared a torrid affair. Could the victim be Kurt's mentor and how does this tie into the fact that the ship is not where David expected to find it? WRACK is a superb tale that mixes the sixteenth century European age of discovery and a fifty-year old murder mystery into a noteworthy contemporary search for self worth. Even though the climax seems a bit contrite, the subplots blend together into a fast-paced tale that makes the two historical periods seem as alive as the present. The two archeologists with their obsessions add a human touch of drama that helps make this a necessary read for fans of historical fiction.Harriet Klausner

Bradley engages our attention right from the beginning of the novel to the end. The mysterious opening leads us to read on. Also with the Portguese ship, that David is trying to discover, does not only help to 'open up' the love story of Kurt but also acts as a 'bait' to maintain our interest in reading. The Wrack is a very interesting book to read apart from being a HSC book for 1999.