£9.99

The hamilton case

michelle de kretser

‘That rare treasure, a perfect novel’ – TIME

Introduced by Damon Galgut

A name is the first story that attaches itself to a life. Consider mine: Stanley Alban Marriott Obeysekere. It tells of geography, history, love and uncertainty.

Stanley Obeysekere, a wealthy lawyer in colonial Ceylon, is a staunch believer in British justice. When the murder of a tea planter baffles the island, he seizes the chance to solve the case, securing fame as 'our Sherlock Holmes'.

But his triumph comes at a price. With devastating precision, Michelle de Kretser traces the disintegration of a man, a family and a society as change arrives and the empire crumbles. A dazzling and savage novel.

Praise for the hamilton case

(on first publication in 2003)

“The Hamilton Case is one of the most remarkable books I’ve read in a long while – subtle and mysterious, both comic and eerie, and brilliantly evocative of time and place…I so much admire Michelle de Kretser’s formidable technique – her characters feel alive, and she can create a sweeping narrative, which encompasses years and yet still retain the sharp, almost hallucinatory detail. It’s brilliant.” – Hilary Mantel

“A novel so delicious that you have to keep stopping as you read, for fear of finishing too soon” – Jane Shilling, The Sunday Telegraph, 2003

“[de Kretser] is as smart and up- to- date as can be about the world of postmodernism, perfectly aware of all its conventions while capable of mocking them even as she uses them...she keeps up the tension and the suspense to the very last page.” – Anita Desai

“A mature masterpiece of a mystery… The closer the novel comes to its conclusion, the more crowded it becomes with possible solutions….’Time never simplifies, it unravels and complicates’ De Kretser writes. ‘Guilty parties show up everywhere. The plot does nothing but thicken.” – Lev Grossman, Time Magazine May 2004

“This is no simple murder story, but a close tangle of private, public and inter-racial emotions which the Hamilton case both symbolises and knots craftily together.” – John Spurling. The Sunday Times August 2003

“An utterly captivating blend of intellectual muscle and story-telling magic.” – Boyd Tonkin. The Independent August 2003