Utopian Man

Cover Type: Softcover
Book Condition: Fine
Jacket Condition: None Issued
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publisher Place: Australia
Publisher Year: 2010
Edition: First Edition

Description: 248 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout.

Publishers Description: An exquisite historical novel about a remarkable man who chose his own path, charming and scandalizing others in equal measurethe cowinner of the Australian/Vogel Literary AwardIts the 1880s and Marvellous Melbourne is a lavish and raucous city where anything can happen. Eccentric entrepreneur Edward William Cole is building the sprawling Coles Book Arcade and filling it with whatever amuses him or supports his favorite causes: a giant squid, a brass band, monkeys, a black man whose skin has turned white, a Chinese tea salon, and of course, hundreds of thousands of books. When Edward decides to marry he advertises for a wife in the newspaper, shocking and titillating the whole town. To everyones surprise he marries his broadsheet bride and the arcade grows into a monumental success. But the 1890s depression hits hard for Melbourneand Edwardand the death of one of his children leaves him reeling. Grief, corruption, and a beautiful, unscrupulous widow all threaten to derail his singular vision. But its not until he visits Chinatown one nightand his own deeply suppressed pastthat the idealist faces his toughest challenge. This is the vivid, fascinating story of a man who lives life on his own terms, and leaves behind a remarkable legacy.

ISBN: 9781742373348