The Lieutenant cover art

The Lieutenant

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
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.

The Lieutenant

By: Kate Grenville
Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

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

Buy Now for £25.99

Buy Now for £25.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 Simultaneous release of the new novel by the author of the universally acclaimed prize-winner The Secret River, The Lieutenant is a major new novel that will captivate readers and continues the author's enthralling exploration of historical themes.

Set a quarter of a century before The Secret River, at the moment when the British arrive in Australia, The Lieutenant tells an unforgettable story about friendship, language and power.

In 1787 Lieutenant Thomas Rooke sets sail from Portsmouth with the First Fleet and its cargo of convicts, destined for New South Wales. As a young officer and a man of science, the shy and quiet Rooke is full of anticipation about the natural wonders he might discover in this strange land on the other side of the world.

After the fleet arrives in Port Jackson, Rooke sets up camp on a rocky and isolated point, and starts his work of astronomy and navigation. It's not too long before some of the Aboriginal people who live around the harbour pay him a visit. One of them, a girl named Tarunga, starts to teach him her own language. But her lessons and their friendship are interrupted when Rooke is given an order that will change his life forever.

Inspired by the 1790 notebooks of William Dawes in which he recorded his conversations with a young Gadigal woman, The Lieutenant is a story about a man discovering his true self in extraordinary circumstances.

©2008 Kate Grenville (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Fiction Historical Fiction Solider Friendship

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Secret River cover art
Turning the Stones cover art
The Timeless Land cover art
The Covenant of Water cover art
Skylarking cover art
The Glass Sentence cover art
The Strange Adventures of H cover art
Remembering Babylon cover art
Salt Creek cover art
Virgins cover art
Treasure Island cover art
Legacy cover art
The English Girl cover art
Mycroft Holmes cover art
The Sealwoman's Gift cover art
All stars
Most relevant
a very enjoyable read that gives insight in to history and what could well have happened

Really enjoyed this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
very moving and showing the depths of feeling and acceptance it is possible for a man to process.

Amaising writing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I just didn’t enjoy this book. Constant repetition of the language used by the indigenous peoples of NS Wales was tedious and annoying. The ending was rubbish and clearly rushed.

Tiresom.

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