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English Passengers is one of the best novels I have ever read. A story told by multiple narrators, it initially focuses on a Manx smuggling vessel which sets off for England only to get chartered to set sail to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) because some crazy reverend is convinced that Van Diemen's Land is the site of the Garden of Eden. Among the ship's many larger-than-life passengers are the reverend himself, a doctor with some rather alarming racial theories and a captain desperate to keep his secret cargo hidden from his passengers and make a profit from the unexpected detour to the other side of the planet. Their adventures on board the ship alternate with those of Peevay, a Tasmanian Aborigine boy who describes his people's struggle against the white settlers who seek to displace them. Eventually the two storylines intersect, setting the stage for war, mutiny and shipwreck and a very satisfying finale that had me grinning for hours.

English Passengers paints a vivid (and frequently shocking) picture of Australian history and the Victorian era in general, and is worth reading for that reason alone. However, the real reason to pick up the book is Kneale's phenomenal writing. Like David Mitchell, Kneale has mastered the art of telling a story from different perspectives, and then some. English Passengers is told from about twenty vastly different points of view, and while some of them ring a bit false, the majority are utterly convincing, not to mention gripping. Both the characterisation and the use of language are superb. Add a ferocious black sense of humour and a ring of truth (part of the Tasmanian chapters is based on true events) and you have a magnificent book, at turns thought-provoking and funny. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a good, entertaining work of fiction with a message.