Published 1988 / Length 519 pages
Narrated by Oscar’s great-grandson, Oscar and Lucinda tells the story of Oscar Hopkins, a delicate, English, flame-haired scarecrow of an Anglican reverend, and Lucinda Leplastrier, a fiercely independent and socially unschooled Australian heiress. Aged fifteen, Oscar makes a decision that changes his life course for ever, and ultimately sets him on a path to meet Lucinda, who suffers tribulations of her own at a young age, not the least of which is coming into an inheritance that immediately becomes a millstone around her neck. The book is set in the mid-nineteenth century, against a backdrop first of rural Hennacombe, Devon, and subsequently the spires of Oxford, smokestacks of London, drawing rooms of Sydney society and, finally, the inhospitable locales of the Australian outback. The book is a masterclass in character portraiture and Carey excels at detail throughout this intense, complex novel. While the action is sometimes slow-paced, the plot moves inexorably towards its calamitous conclusion, bolstered along the way by a passionate love story, intriguing psychological studies, dangerous addiction and fateful relationships.
‘From the first page, you are assured by the author’s skill that you are in safe hands. This book reminded me of a rich red wine: you cannot guzzle it down; each mouthful demands to be savoured. The dense detail in the book was impressive and evocative, though at times it made for a hard-going read, as there was just so much to take in.’ – KATE, 26
• Consider the treatment of Oscar on the glassworks tour, as compared to Lucinda, and discuss. Would Lucinda’s fate have differed had she been a man? Have things changed for businesswomen today?
• What does the passion for gambling represent? Why do you think Carey chose gambling as a metaphor?
• At times, the novel paints a bleak picture of life and the human character. Are there any redeeming factors?
• What view of religion does the book take? Are any of the characters truly moral?
• What, in your opinion, are Oscar and Lucinda’s fatal flaws?
• Oscar and Lucinda won the 1988 Booker Prize and the 1989 Miles Franklin Award.
• Carey won the Booker Prize a second time in 2001, for True History of the Kelly Gang, a fictional exploration of the Ned Kelly story. Carey is one of only two writers to have won the prestigious award twice (the other is J. M. Coetzee).
• A film was made of the book in 1997, starring Ralph Fiennes as Oscar and Cate Blanchett as Lucinda.
• Middlesex by JEFFREY EUGENIDES (see here) – a sweeping family epic set against the backdrop of America and Asia Minor.
• Father and Son by EDMUND GOSSE – the autobiography of the English poet, by which Carey was partly inspired for Oscar and Lucinda.
• Great Expectations by CHARLES DICKENS – shifting social hierarchies and a memorable cast of characters; The Spectator described Oscar and Lucinda as having ‘a Dickensian amplitude’.