The Unmourned: The Monsarrat Series
As the tagline says, ‘not all murder victims are lamented’ and this is certainly the case here with the unregretted demise of Robert Church, superintendent of the Parramatta Female Factory in colonial Australia. For years he has been enjoying himself preying on the powerless and making the most of his privileged position and using his opportunities to rape and terrorise those under his care. Monsarrat, the convict hero of the previous novel, The Soldier’s Curse, is charged with finding the killer. Together with his indefatigable housekeeper Mrs Mulrooney, they aim to solve the crime and save the convenient scapegoat Grace O’Leary from the gallows.
Tom Keneally won the 1982 Booker Prize for Schindler’s Ark, but is now writing with his daughter Meg. They have created a memorable protagonist in Monsarrat, who understands convict life better than most. The arbitrary nature of justice is evident throughout the novel. As O’Leary herself says, ‘it is just a word that those in power use to justify their actions.’ In colonial Australia, fairness and equality are hard to come by, and as an ex-con, Monsarrat has a lot of problems and prejudices to overcome. The book is well-written and the characters well-drawn. While I enjoyed the first one, I felt this one was even better. I am already looking forward to number three.
