‘A city built on lies and secrets,’ is the Sydney of Julian Leatherdale’s sumptuously wrought Australian historical fiction, The Opal Dragonfly. This journey back to 1850s New South Wales is elegantly written, visually stunning and richly detailed – the work of an author who treats his subjects with utmost care and…
The Opal Dragonfly is an ambitious undertaking that presents all of the class bigotry and narrow-mindedness of the era. Its characters and awkward coming-of-age scenes are reminiscent of Austen. That, combined with Dickensian social realism, has resulted in Leatherdale creating a memorable, epic work that is destined…
"It is at times touching, and other times harrowing and despairing, it encapsulates the desires to uncover secrets, and the flaws and fragility of human life and society, against a backdrop of colonialism and the assumptions of class, race and gender." "the complexity of relationships that Leatherdale explores with…
A good review in the history pages of The Daily Telegraph today by Troy Lennon "Leatherdale beautifully evokes this exciting era in Sydney's history." Right next to Mary Beard no less! How good is that…
Julian Leatherdale has taken this slice of early history and beautifully woven it into a tale which is one of complexity, families and the balance of power, which is fleeting at best…