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Product Details
Washington Square Press, September 2011
Trade Paperback, 480 pages
ISBN-10: 1439198861
ISBN-13: 9781439198865
Description
From the award-winning author of The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre and The Beautiful Miscellaneous comes a sweeping historical novel set amid the skyscrapers of 1890s Chicago and the far-flung islands of the South Pacific.
In the waning years of the nineteenth century there was a hunger for tribal artifacts, spawning collecting voyages from museums and collectors around the globe. In 1897, one such collector, a Chicago insurance magnate, sponsors an expedition into the South Seas to commemorate the completion of his company’s new skyscraper—the world’s tallest building. The ship is to bring back an array of Melanesian weaponry and handicrafts, but also several natives related by blood.
Caught up in this scheme are two orphans—Owen Graves, an itinerant trader from Chicago’s South Side who has recently proposed to the girl he must leave behind, and Argus Niu, a mission houseboy in the New Hebrides who longs to be reunited with his sister. At the cusp of the twentieth century, the expedition forces a collision course between the tribal and the civilized, between two young men plagued by their respective and haunting pasts.
An epic and ambitious story that brings to mind E. L. Doctorow, with echoes of Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson, Bright and Distant Shores is a wondrous achievement by a writer known for creating compelling fiction from the fabric of history.
In the waning years of the nineteenth century there was a hunger for tribal artifacts, spawning collecting voyages from museums and collectors around the globe. In 1897, one such collector, a Chicago insurance magnate, sponsors an expedition into the South Seas to commemorate the completion of his company’s new skyscraper—the world’s tallest building. The ship is to bring back an array of Melanesian weaponry and handicrafts, but also several natives related by blood.
Caught up in this scheme are two orphans—Owen Graves, an itinerant trader from Chicago’s South Side who has recently proposed to the girl he must leave behind, and Argus Niu, a mission houseboy in the New Hebrides who longs to be reunited with his sister. At the cusp of the twentieth century, the expedition forces a collision course between the tribal and the civilized, between two young men plagued by their respective and haunting pasts.
An epic and ambitious story that brings to mind E. L. Doctorow, with echoes of Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson, Bright and Distant Shores is a wondrous achievement by a writer known for creating compelling fiction from the fabric of history.
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“A breathless narrative pace...a riveting tale...evocations of Chicago surprise and delight.”
-- Australian Book Review
“Smith’s novel is an atmospheric, meticulously observed period drama from a footsure and stylish writer with a fine sense of narrative pace.”
-- The Age (Australia)
“Smith's impressive third novel is an absorbing exploration of culture, tradition, and renewal through the high seas adventure of three very different men... Smith expertly combines well-drawn characters with a complex narrative that moves smoothly to the dawn of a new century.”
-- Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
“Smith’s buoyant writing carries the novel through the pitches and swells of the entertaining plot, and his virtuosity with language makes for pitch-perfect description of all he surveys.”
-- Booklist
“This excellent read will appeal to those who enjoy literary historical fiction with a touch of exotic adventure."
-- Library Journal
“Written with extraordinary literary grace, Smith’s third novel gleams as a gem of evocative historical fiction.... Beautifully researched and ripe with symbolism--an enthralling narrative peopled by characters both exotic and real.”
-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Austin Chronicle, September 15, 2011
...The black Bakelite telephone on Dominic Smith's desk is strictly nonfunctional, except as a caution to double-check facts. It serves to remind Smith to take thorough care to get the materials of his period novels ...
Austin American Statesman, September 12, 2011
...return to fiction Monday, July 11 Beware of scams in wake of fires Sunday, Sep. 11 Kirkus Reviews: 'Bright and Distant Shores' by Dominic Smith; 'Arguably' by Christopher Hitchens Saturday, Sep. 10 The Reader: Catching up with some of ...
Austin American Statesman, September 10, 2011
...authoritative voices in book discovery. For more from Kirkus, visit www.kirkusreviews.com. Written with extraordinary literary grace, Dominic Smith's third novel gleams as a gem of evocative historical fiction. Owen Graves, orphaned at 13, ...
Suite101.com, September 9, 2011
...the first person, of the love affair between a young Colin and an older, married woman. Sydney-born, US-based Dominic Smith, with his first novel published in Australia, also found himself on the shortlist. The third novel set in the 19th ...
Dominic Smith's Books
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The Beautiful MiscellaneousSmith's moving story of the average son of a renowned genius who desperately tries live up to the crushing weight of his father's expectations.Read More -
The Mercury Visions of Louis DaguerreWhen the vision came, he was in the bathtub. So begins the madness of Louis Daguerre. In 1847, after a decade of using poisonous mercury vapors to...Read More
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