To Name Those Lost - by Rohan Wilson (Paperback)

About the Book

After abandoning his wife and child many years ago, the Black War veteran Thomas Toosey must return to Launceston to search for William, his now motherless twelve-year-old son. He travels through the island's northern districts during a time of impossible hardship--hardship that has left its mark on him, too. Arriving in Launceston, Toosey discovers a town in chaos. He's desperate to find his son amid the looting and destruction, but at every turn he's confronted by the Irish transportee Fitheal Flynn and his companion, the hooded man, to whom Toosey owes a debt that he must repay.

Book Synopsis

"Wilson's superbly taut novel keeps up its pace with spare punctuation and brutal dialogue in a vigorously drawn landscape feverish with the heat of a bushfire summer."-The Saturday Paper

"Wilson's beautiful writing stands out in harsh contrast to the world of violence, heartache, and human suffering he depicts." -Historical Novels Review

Rohan Wilson's prize-winning American debut draws inspiration from classic westerns to tell a tale of vengeance and redemption set against the sweeping grandeur of the Australian frontier.

It is the summer of 1874. Launceston, a colonial outpost on the island of Tasmania, hovers on the brink of anarchy as a volatile mix of revolutionaries, convicts, drunks, crooked coppers, and poor strugglers looking for a break threatens to boil over. The outlaw Thomas Toosey races into this dangerous bedlam to rescue his motherless twelve-year-old son, pursued all the while by a vengeful Irishman named Fitheal Flynn to whom he owes an unpayable debt.

Brilliantly told in galloping, lyrical prose, based on real-life events, and infused with gothic tones reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner, To Name Those Lost tells a story of fatherly devotion and the search for moral bearings in a world that has none.

"Readers who admired the propulsive plotting, atmospheric sense of place, and fierce family loyalty in Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers and Cormac McCarthy's The Road should be equally taken with Wilson's superb novel."-Library Journal

"A fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver."

-Kirkus Reviews

Review Quotes

Praise for To Name Those Lost

"A fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver."
--Kirkus Reviews

"This is a satisfying, grimy adventure about a reciprocal violence that pollutes."
--Publishers Weekly

"Readers who admired the propulsive plotting, atmospheric sense of place, and fierce family loyalty in Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers and Cormac McCarthy's The Road should be equally taken with Wilson's (The Roving Party) superb novel. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal (Starred)

"Fierce, brutal, brilliant, beautiful--it's hard to find enough superlatives to describe this hard gem of a novel by young Australian novelist Roahn Wilson. With a piercing literary prowess that brings to mind the prose of Cormac McCarthy, Joseph Conrad and William Faulkner, but ultimately becomes his exceptional own, he catapults us into the vicious, impoverished world of a colonial town in Tasmania of the 1870."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The jarring effect of Wilson's tale is that nothing is as it appears. [...] Making heroes of killers and saviors of thieves, Wilson manages to confuse morality while avoiding amorality. This isn't a Robin Hood story, status quo turned on its head. It is a new system all together."
--Mari Carlson, Fiction Writers Review

"Wilson's beautiful writing stands out in harsh contrast to the world of violence, heartache, and human suffering he depicts. [...] I loved this book, and I'm so glad to discover Rohan Wilson."
--Historical Novels Review

"Riveting . . . a tale that readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away from."
--Geordie Williamson, The Australian

"Wilson's ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written."
--The Sydney Morning Herald

"A heartbreaking and violent tale I can't wait to share with everyone."
--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore

"Ferocious and brilliant . . . there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson's To Name Those Lost."
--The Australian Book Review

"Wilson's superbly taut novel keeps up its pace with spare punctuation and brutal dialogue in a vigorously drawn landscape feverish with the heat of a bushfire summer."
--The Saturday Paper

Praise for Wilson's The Roving Party

"One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other-it's all here."
--Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered

"[An] exceedingly powerful debut."
--Chicago Tribune

Praise for To Name Those Lost
-A fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver.-
--Kirkus Reviews
-This is a satisfying, grimy adventure about a reciprocal violence that pollutes.-
--Publishers Weekly

-Readers who admired the propulsive plotting, atmospheric sense of place, and fierce family loyalty in Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers and Cormac McCarthy's The Road should be equally taken with Wilson's (The Roving Party) superb novel. Highly recommended.-
--Library Journal (Starred)
-Fierce, brutal, brilliant, beautiful--it's hard to find enough superlatives to describe this hard gem of a novel by young Australian novelist Roahn Wilson. With a piercing literary prowess that brings to mind the prose of Cormac McCarthy, Joseph Conrad and William Faulkner, but ultimately becomes his exceptional own, he catapults us into the vicious, impoverished world of a colonial town in Tasmania of the 1870.-
--Minneapolis Star Tribune
-The jarring effect of Wilson's tale is that nothing is as it appears. [...] Making heroes of killers and saviors of thieves, Wilson manages to confuse morality while avoiding amorality. This isn't a Robin Hood story, status quo turned on its head. It is a new system all together.-
--Mari Carlson, Fiction Writers Review

-Wilson's beautiful writing stands out in harsh contrast to the world of violence, heartache, and human suffering he depicts. [...] I loved this book, and I'm so glad to discover Rohan Wilson.-
--Historical Novels Review
-Riveting . . . a tale that readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away from.-
--Geordie Williamson, The Australian

-Wilson's ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written.-
--The Sydney Morning Herald

-A heartbreaking and violent tale I can't wait to share with everyone.-
--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore

-Ferocious and brilliant . . . there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson's To Name Those Lost.-
--The Australian Book Review

-Wilson's superbly taut novel keeps up its pace with spare punctuation and brutal dialogue in a vigorously drawn landscape feverish with the heat of a bushfire summer.-
--The Saturday Paper

Praise for Wilson's The Roving Party
-One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other-it's all here.-
--Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered
-[An] exceedingly powerful debut.-
--Chicago Tribune

Praise for To Name Those Lost
"A fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver."
--Kirkus Reviews
"This is a satisfying, grimy adventure about a reciprocal violence that pollutes."
--Publishers Weekly

"Readers who admired the propulsive plotting, atmospheric sense of place, and fierce family loyalty in Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers and Cormac McCarthy's The Road should be equally taken with Wilson's (The Roving Party) superb novel. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal (Starred)
"The jarring effect of Wilson's tale is that nothing is as it appears. [...] Making heroes of killers and saviors of thieves, Wilson manages to confuse morality while avoiding amorality. This isn't a Robin Hood story, status quo turned on its head. It is a new system all together."
--Mari Carlson, Fiction Writers Review

"Wilson's beautiful writing stands out in harsh contrast to the world of violence, heartache, and human suffering he depicts. [...] I loved this book, and I'm so glad to discover Rohan Wilson."
--Historical Novels Review
"Riveting . . . a tale that readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away from."
--Geordie Williamson, The Australian

"Wilson's ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written."
--The Sydney Morning Herald

"A heartbreaking and violent tale I can't wait to share with everyone."
--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore

"Ferocious and brilliant . . . there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson's To Name Those Lost."
--The Australian Book Review

"Wilson's superbly taut novel keeps up its pace with spare punctuation and brutal dialogue in a vigorously drawn landscape feverish with the heat of a bushfire summer."
--The Saturday Paper

Praise for Wilson's The Roving Party
"One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other-it's all here."
--Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered
"[An] exceedingly powerful debut."
--Chicago Tribune

Praise for To Name Those Lost
A fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver.
Kirkus Reviews
"This is a satisfying, grimy adventure about a reciprocal violence that pollutes."
Publishers Weekly
Riveting . . . a tale that readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away from.
Geordie Williamson, The Australian

Wilson s ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written.
The Sydney Morning Herald

A heartbreaking and violent tale I can t wait to share with everyone.
Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore

Ferocious and brilliant . . . there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson s To Name Those Lost.
The Australian Book Review

Wilson s superbly taut novel keeps up its pace with spare punctuation and brutal dialogue in a vigorously drawn landscape feverish with the heat of a bushfire summer.
The Saturday Paper

Praise for Wilson's The Roving Party
"One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other it's all here."
Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered
"[An] exceedingly powerful debut."
Chicago Tribune"

Praise for To Name Those Lost
[To Name Those Lost] is a fast-paced, hard-nosed fable about revenge, pursuit, and the search for a moral compass in a place where chaos and rage and injustice set every dial wildly aquiver.
Kirkus Reviews
"Ferocious and brilliant...there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson'sTo Name Those Lost."
The Australian Book Review
"Riveting [...] readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away."
The Australian

Praise for Rohan Wilson
"Wilson's ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written...Each novel is somber, strange, yet full of elan."
Peter Pierce, The Syndney Morning Herald

Praise for Wilson's The Roving Party
"One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other it's all here."
Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered
"[An] exceedingly powerful debut."
Chicago Tribune"

Praise for Rohan Wilson
"Ferocious and brilliant...there is no denying the raw power and purity of intent of Wilson's "To Name Those Lost.""
"The Australian Book Review
""Wilson's ambition may be no less than to recast the way in which historical fiction is written...Each novel is somber, strange, yet full of elan."
Peter Pierce, "The Syndney Morning Herald
""Riveting [...] readers will not be able to wrench their eyes away."
"The Australian
"Praise for Wilson's "The Roving Party
""One of the best first novels I've read all year...The urgency of the chase, carefully chiseled language, exotic characters and dangerous conflict with each other it's all here.""
"Alan Cheuse, NPR's "All Things Considered
""[An] exceedingly powerful debut."
"Chicago Tribune""

About the Author

Rohan Wilson was named as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists in 2012. His debut novel, The Roving Party, won the 2011 The Australian/Vogel Literary Award as well as the Margaret Scott Prize, Tasmanian Literary Awards in 2013 and NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2012. To Name Those Lost won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the Adelaide Festival Award for Best Novel. He lives in Tasmania.