<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE </b><br><b>WINNER OF THE 2006 COMMONWEALTH WRITERS'' PRIZE</b><br><b>LONGLISTED FOR THE IMPAC DUBLIN PRIZE</b><br><b>A BBC2 BIG JUBILEE BETWEEN THE COVERS READ</b><br><br>London, 1806. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly.<br><br>His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. Soon Thornhill, a man no better or worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life.</p>