Edward Britton

by Gary Crew

A dramatic story based on the historical fact of Point Puer, the boys' prison at Port Arthur, Tasmania. A boy convict, Edward Britton, 17, is the main character. He is good-looking, literate and well educated, compared to the other boys, and has been a Shakespearian child actor in London. He was transported for stealing from the acting troupe's kitty. He attracts the attention of the daughter of the brutal Point Puer Commandant and a love affair develops. The girl's stepmother is jealous and makes Edward's life hell. A subplot revolves around an Irish convict boy, Izod, whose parents were killed by British troops during the food riots of the potato famine. Reduced to theft to survive, he was transported for stealing food. To his amazement, the Commandant is the same British Officer who killed his parents back in Ireland. He has a deep-seated hatred of the British generally and the Commandant in particular, and he plots revenge. The theme is study of tyrannical power which can be wielded by adults (and sometimes other children) who are placed in authority over the most disempowered, helpless and exploited members of society - the children.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Dr Gary Crew, author of novels, short stories and picture books for older children and young adults, began his writing career in 1985, when he was a high school teacher. His books are challenging and intriguing, often based on non-fiction. As well as writing fiction, Gary is a Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Children's and Adult Literature, at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and editor of the After Dark series.

He lives with his wife Christine on several acres in the cool, high mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia in a house called 'Green Mansions' which is shaded by over 200 Australian rainforest palms he has cultivated. He enjoys gardening, reading, and playing with his dogs Ferris, Beulah, and Miss Wendy. In his spare time he has created an Australian Rainforest Garden around his home, filled with Australian palms. Gary loves to visit antique shops looking for curios and beautiful objects.

Gary Crew has been awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the year four times: twice for Book of the Year for Young Adult Older Readers (Strange Objects in 1991 and Angel’s Gate in 1993) and twice for Picture Book of the Year with First Light in 1993 (illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe) and The Watertower (illustrated by Steven Woolman) in 1994. Gary’s illustrated book, Memorial (with Shaun Tan) was awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book in 2000 and short listed for the Queensland Premier’s Awards. He has also won the Wilderness Society Award, the Whitley Award and the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction.

In the USA he has been twice short listed for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Fiction Award for Youth and the Hungry Minds Review American Children’s Book of distinction. In Europe he has twice been and twice the prestigious White Raven Award for his illustrated books. Among his many Australian awards is the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction, the New South Wales Premier’s Award and the Victorian Premier’s Award. He has been short listed for both the Queensland Premier’s and the Western Australian Premier’s awards for Fiction.

Reviews

[Laura B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a teenager and it still haunted me so much I ordered it online just to read it again. Izod is definitely character that has stuck with me since the first read

[Zahlia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what process people go through when choosing these books, but I'm willing to bet hard-earned cash it involves serious contemplation as to which book is going to make already suffering students bleed from the eyes.

The synopsis of this book says it all. If you're using the words 'a subplot revolves around...' and 'the theme is...', I'm already dubious. But was I proved wrong?????
Nope.
Edward Britton follows, well, Edward Britton, a well built handsome teenage boy despite being a prisoner at Point Puer who's probably being fed an eighth of what he needs to properly grow, Izod Wolfe, who is the 2 EDGY 4 U meme personified, and Susan Buckridge, who would probably be this book's redeeming factor if she wasn't just perfect in every way imaginable. The first two a prisoners at Point Puer, and Susan is the daughter of the... commander I think.
At this point, I'd like to say that everything that occurred at Point Puer and Port Arthur was awful. The system was incredibly unjust, and I have huge amount of respect for these authors writing about such an terrible, under-talked about event. My dislike with this book doesn't erase the incredible thing Crew has done.

These characters... exist. I couldn't tell you the plot. Stuff sort of happens. Other characters react. Which would be forgivable if they had decent, three-dimensional - hell, even two-dimensional would be better than these cardboard cutouts - characters.

Pretty much everything I wrote about Inventing Elliot applies to this - to quote Dominic Noble - piece of shit masquerading as a book.

Terrible writing? Check.

Awful characterisation? Check.

Plots? Those are optional, right!

Again, the authors try to tackle a serious topic, and they don't shy away from gore, but they seem to think describing blood and guts equivocates to deep and raw. It's kinda gross. Nothing more. And the writing is so condescending. Nothing is left to personal interpretation. All the themes and lessons are blatantly written.

All in all, this is not a good book. I don't know why we had to read it. I don't think you should either. But if you do, and you enjoy it, who am I to complain?

[Gemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring, glad Edward had a happy ending cant say the same for Izod, but I'm glad he did what he had to do before dying.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like, the ending was good, but what was the rest of the book?

2nd Reread: ohhh done in exactly an hour, world record time

There are metaphors but I am not sure what the overall theme was. The heroes vs villains and morally grey could have been developed more and it would have been useful to have more quotes of corruption and tyranny so I could do my analytical essay well in a few weeks time.

(btw I did skip bits that I reread whilst doing my chapter summaries work booklet)

3rd Reread: I thank Crew and Neilsen for the abundance of quotes I have across many different themes so I can write my essay. The novel is well-written and chock full of meaningful symbolism and literary devices that position the readers to many different values, beliefs and situations!

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as a class novel, so I got way deeper into this especially in terms of analysing than most people. I really appreciate the amount of research went clearly into it, but the ending is what made my score drop. It seemed to go from 0 to 100 3/4 through the book and advance plot points very quickly, especially at the end with Izod where he suddenly becomes extremely obsessed with Edward and Susan, and is suddenly willing to die for him. I wish we could have seen more intertwinement between the two, or some sort of twist. It's well written, but it hasn't blown me away. Maybe it's just the fact I'm going to have to write several essays on this book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really expect much from this book, but I ended up being really drawn into it. I found it surprisingly dark and mature for its intended audience.The story was engaging, and there's clearly been a lot of research done. That said, I felt as though the character of Edward was lacking - a bit too perfect and/or bland - and I felt as though there was some information dumps in the texts that could have been worked in better.

[Mickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the bool I had to read in yr 10. It got me into reading again. I enjoyed it alot and it was the first book I actually read for school, since hen theres only been one other that i've finished and that was purely because it was short. :) really good book!!!

[Ella Keough · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book wasn't really my cup of tea but the ending... whoo

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a brilliant read. The fact that it’s set in Tasmania makes it all the more special

[Holly Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

this might have been good, i don't know. i had to read this in grade 9 english and hated it. it would be interesting to do a re-read, but i burnt my copy at the end of the year after exams, and would rather put my money towards better books.

[erika joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

main character and book’s namesake was the most boring character somehow. excited to teach this on placement though.

[Mr. Daniel James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Britton is a great book that I loved reading in my high school. It’s a classic story, full of adventure and hope. The characters are great, but they don’t have a lot of depth.