The Mind's Own Place

Book excerpt: Two women and three men, displaced in different ways by the rapid transformation of Victorian England, travel separately to a small settlement on Australia's western rim. With them, they carry social ambitions and psychological wounds. As their lives intersect in the Swan River Colony, what they encounter is not quite what they expect. Who will struggle, who will thrive, and how will each react when secrets emerge? Though fictional, The Mind's Own Place is partly based on the actual experiences of historical figures: a pair of convicts from respectable backgrounds, talented and enterprising, but troubled; two female immigrants, free settlers not equally fortunate or resilient; and the first detective in Western Australia who eventually uncovers more than he intends. Like Ian Reid's previous acclaimed novels, this powerful story explores intricate relationships between the shaping of character and the pressure of adversity. It reveals damaged families, mixed motives, and the long shadows thrown by the past. *** Librarians: ebook available on ProQuest and EBSCO *** "An impressively executed work of meticulously written fiction, 'The Mind's Own Place' clearly documents author Ian Reid as a master storyteller of the first order. Absolutely absorbing from beginning to end...very highly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as for both community and academic library Historical Fiction collections." -- Midwest Book Review, Reviewer's Bookwatch: January 2016, Buhle's Bookshelf [Subject: Adult Fiction]