A chance encounter in a fish-’n’-chip shop set Brendan Murray on the trail of a mystery. Had a gay man been secretly murdered on HMAS Australia during the Second World War?

The veteran he spoke to was certain. ‘I knew about it,’ he said. ‘We all did.’

But was the story true? If so, who was the dead man? And why was it so hard to find out?

The Drowned Man is a search for the answer, almost stymied by cover-up and silence. In the end, it brings us to the lies that have shrouded our understanding of war, and especially of war at sea.

As one of the survivors poignantly says, ‘I want to pass it on to the next generation. What it was like. What it was really like.’

A work of kaleidoscopic intensity by a strong new Australian voice.

Author

Brendan James Murray

Brendan Murray grew up on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and has been writing for as long as he can remember. Though his first love is nonfiction, he also enjoys writing creatively; his short stories have twice received National Literary Awards from the Fellowship of Australian Writers. 

Country of Origin

Books:

Series:

Blog 2017 Ned Kelly Awards
Karen Chisholm
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Blog #amreading The Drowned Man, Brendan James Murray
Karen Chisholm
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
ISBN
9781760401207
Year of Publication
Publisher
Special Interests
Blog 2017 Ned Kelly Awards
Karen Chisholm
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Blog #amreading The Drowned Man, Brendan James Murray
Karen Chisholm
Wednesday, June 21, 2017

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