By the line - Thomas Keneally

Schoolboy narrator Daniel Jordan, growing up in working-class Sydney during the Second World War, is confused by a world in which the religious dogma of his school conflicts with the communism of his family's terrifying neighbour, the 'Comrade'. Refreshingly unsentimental, this is the funny, ultimately tragic story of a boy struggling to understand a world in which concepts like innocence and guilt, good and evil are clearly open to interpretation.

Thomas Keneally began his writing career in 1964 and has published thirty-one novels since. They include Schindler's Ark, which won the Booker Prize in 1982 and was subsequently made into the film Schindler's List, and The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith, Confederates and Gossip From The Forest, each of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His most recent novels include The Daughters Of Mars, which was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize in 2013, Napoleon's Last Island, Crimes of the Father and The Book of Science and Antiquities. He has also written several works of non-fiction, including his memoir Homebush Boy, Searching for Schindler and Australians. He is married with two daughters and lives in Sydney.

A subtle examination of innocence and guilt
Observer

Reflects on indoctrination and the holy innocence of its victims, while suffusing everyday life with a spirituality of its own
Scotsman

If you are inclined to avoid anything written by winners of the Booker Prize, make an exception for Thomas Keneally
Literary Review

Reading Keneally's prose is like walking on the sort of turf that puts a spring in your step
Listener