Oscar and Lucinda

Oscar and Lucinda
Author(s)	Peter Carey
Cover artist	Pierre Le Tan
Country	Australia
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	University of Queensland Press
Publication date	1988
Media type	Print (Hardback, Paperback)
Pages	528 pp
ISBN	0-7022-2116-3
OCLC Number	21002433
LC Classification	MLCM 91/08820 (P) PR9619.3.C36
Preceded by	Illywhacker
Followed by	The Tax Inspector

Oscar and Lucinda is a novel by Peter Carey which won the 1988 Booker Prize, the 1989 Miles Franklin Award, and was shortlisted for The Best of the Booker.

Plot introduction

It tells the story of Oscar Hopkins, the Cornish son of a Plymouth Brethren minister who becomes an Anglican priest, and Lucinda Leplastrier, a young Australian heiress who buys a glass factory. They meet on the boat over to Australia, and discover that they are both obsessive gamblers. Lucinda bets Oscar that he cannot transport a glass church from Sydney to a remote settlement at Bellingen, some 400 km up the New South Wales coast. This bet changes both their lives forever.

Inspiration

The novel partly takes its inspiration from Father and Son, the autobiography of the English poet Edmund Gosse, which describes his relationship with his father, Philip Henry Gosse.

Film

Main article: Oscar and Lucinda (film)

A film version released in 1997 was directed by Gillian Armstrong and starred Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, and Tom Wilkinson.

External links

• Peter Carey discusses Oscar and Lucinda on the BBC World Book Club
• Oscar and Lucinda at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Oscar and Lucinda at IMDB

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Moon Tiger	Man Booker Prize recipient 1988	Succeeded by The Remains of the Day
Preceded by Dancing on Coral	Miles Franklin Award recipient 1988	Succeeded by Oceana Fine