Kate Grenville's Lieutenant

Kate Grenville’s The Lieutenant feels very much like a follow up to The Secret River, and in many ways it is. It is the result of the very same research. But The Lieutenant is softer, less complicated.

Daniel Rooke has been an outsider all of his life. His intelligence separates him from others – his fascination for numbers, the way he views the world differently and so forth. His schooling leads him into the navy and a commission to go to Australia.

In this novel, it is the soldier’s perspective that is explored, and Rooke is a gentler character than Thornhill was, seeking only knowledge and in a strange way, arguably belonging.

Sydney provides him with ample opportunities to study and be alone, and he finds a connection with a young native girl – Tagaran, who teaches him her language. Rooke’s study and ruminations on the language is one of my favourite parts of the book.

Rooke is eventually put in an impossible decision, facing a moral dilemma he would rather have hidden from. I wont ruin the story though..

The Lieutenant lacks the hard edges and character complexity of The Secret River, but is nonetheless not bad. Worth reading if you have read the former.