Capricornia cover art

Capricornia

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Capricornia

By: Xavier Herbert
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Spanning three generations‚ Capricornia tells the story of Australia's North. It is a story of whites and Aborigines and Asians‚ of chance relationships that can form bonds for life‚ of dispossession‚ murder and betrayal.

In 1904 the brothers Oscar and Mark Shillingsworth‚ clad in serge suits and bowler hats‚ arrive in Port Zodiac on the coast of Capricornia. They are clerks who have come from the South to join the Capricornian Government Service. Oscar prospers‚ and takes to his new life as a gentleman. Mark‚ however‚ is restless‚ and takes up with old Ned Krater‚ a trepang fisherman‚ who tells him tales of the sea and the islands‚ introduces him to drink‚ and boasts of his conquests of Aboriginal women - or 'Black Velvet'‚ as they are called. But it is Mark's son‚ Norman‚ whose struggles to find a place in the world, who embodies the complexities of Capricornia itself.

©1938 Xavier Herbert Estate 1985. Introduction copyright Mudrooroo 1990. The right of Xavier Herbert to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000. First published in Australia by Publicist Publishing Company, Sydney in. Second Australian edition published by Angus & Robertson. Subsequent Australian editions in either hardback or paperback were published by Angus & Robertson in 1939, 1941, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1956, 1959, 1963 (twice), 1969, 1970, Imprints Classics edition 1990, Angus & Robertson Classics edition 1996 and 2002. 2008 edition published by HarperCollins Publishers. (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Historical Fiction Fiction Classics

Critic reviews

"Big, powerful, irreverent...as timeless as the stars, as Australian as spinifex." (The Sydney Morning Herald)
"Capricornia will always be one of the greatest Australian novels, a defining work in the search for what it is, or was, to be Australian." (Australian Book Review)
"The best written and finest spirited novel that has ever come out of Australia." (HG Wells)
All stars
Most relevant  
If the reference to Baz Luhrmann's Australia doesn't fill you with glee, ignore it. This book is far, far better than the film, and bears practically no relation to it. It's fascinating historical information delivered by riveting story-telling. Xavier Herbert worked as a protector of Aborigines in Northern Australia, and his experience illuminates the narrative. I was kept awake long into the small hours by the emotional power of the writing. Very,very hard to press pause...

Astonishing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I first read this in paperback just after the film 'Australia' had been released, as it was supposedly been the inspiration for the film. I found it hard going at first and couldn't get into the story. I revisited the book at a later point because something just told me to. Wow...This is a truly wonderful story, sprawling and vast, from heartwarming to tragic. A masterpiece. Listening to this epic is brought to life by a truly wonderful narration. This is on my list of favourite books.

Absolute Epic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I tried really hard with this audiobook - sticking it out for over 8 hours. Such a waste of credit and not even the wonderful Humphrey Bower narrating could save this dire tale of undending misery. The writing is simply awful, with virtually no characterisation and the 'poetic' descriptions are trite to the point of laughability. If you want excellent audiobooks about Australia, go for the brilliant and highly recommended Bryce Courtenay and give this a miss.

Dreadfully disappointing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.