Rifling Paradise

"A dubious character experiences a shattering change of heart during his specimen-collecting expedition to Australia . . . Edgy, intense and engrossing" (Kirkus Reviews).

When past indiscretions catch up with Charles Redbourne, a minor English landowner, he is propelled from England to Australia, where he plans to make his mark as a naturalist. There, his life begins to change dramatically, not least when he meets his host's wayward, artistic daughter. But it is on an expedition in search of scientific specimens in the Blue Mountains that events take a terrifying turn. Vividly conveying the unspoken codes of Victorian society, this is a gripping tale of emotional and psychological reckoning that offers an inspired meditation on the relationship between humankind and the natural world.

"Immediately gripping . . . An epic tale whose figures in landscape encapsulate a turning point in history." —The Times Literary Supplement

"Poster's prose is at its best when describing the flora and fauna (exotic birds especially), the sounds and smells, of the outback . . . A stylish, assured and thoughtful narrative." —The Guardian

"Violence seethes perpetually just below the surface, all the more powerful for the author's restraint . . . Rifling Paradise is one of those historical novels that continually confronts us with our present world, the world created out of the brutality and disaster of the past but also out of its graces, a world we may not yet be mature enough to save." —Historical Novels