Wrack Author:James Bradley A gripping murder mystery; a tragic wartime romance; a detailed account of the colonial rivalry between Portugal and Spain...
This debut novel won two Australian literary awards. The plot twists around a murder mystery, romance, history and myth. An archaeologist searching sand dunes for an ancient Portuguese ship discovers the body of a soldier from the 1940's. A local hermit, near death, seems to know more than he's willing to tell about the identify of the dead soldier and the ship's whereabouts. David, and his ex-girlfriend move in to the hermit's shack to care for the dying man with the hope he will share some valuable information about the missing, ancient ship. 16th century Spanish-Portuguese history, mapmaking, a war-time romance turned mystery, and archaeology makes this a somewhat complex story.