In 1845, linguistics professor Fabrice Cleriquot is despatched from Lyon to the Swan River Colony, sent away with a box full of silkworms to stop him from bringing more disgrace upon the family. Accompanying him on board the Elizabeth are twenty-eight mismatched and misguided Catholic missionaries including Dom Salvado, who seeks to create a Spanish Benedictine monastery deep in the bush, and the Irish Sisters of Mercy, who are fleeing a dreadful famine. Given the job of distributing a huge donation from a wealthy benefactress, Fabrice bears witness to the folly of his travelling companions whose presumptuous attempts to rescue the colony and the original inhabitants from themselves, can only lead to tragedy.
Peter Burke is a Perth doctor and writer of Western Australian historical fiction, his novels being enjoyed for their filmic quality and humour. Professionally, he divides his time between Murdoch University medical clinic and the hospitals of the Kimberley region of the North West. His first novel, The Drowning Dream, was shortlisted for both the Australian / Vogel Literary Award and the WA Premiers Book Awards. The Silk Merchants Son is his third novel.
"In The Silk Merchants Son, we travel with dubiously motivated colonials through wonderfully detailed landscapes, encountering the perils of the missionary dream in the Swan River Colony and beyond. With a satirical eye and compassionate heart, Peter Burke potently and engagingly stories the damage wreaked in the name of good intentions." -- Josephine Taylor
