Unsworth, Barry
Unsworth, Barry ( 1930 – ),novelist, son of a mining family, born and brought up in Durham, and educated at the University of Manchester. The wide range of his subsequent travels and his interest in history are reflected in his work: his novels include The Partnership ( 1966 ), Mooncranker's Gift ( 1973 ), Pascali's Island ( 1980 ), and Stone Virgin ( 1985 ). Sacred Hunger ( Booker Prize , 1992 ) is a powerful and carefully researched narrative set in the mid-17th cent. describing the voyage (and appalling conditions on board) of a slave ship, the Liverpool Merchant, from England to Africa to America, where, after the death of Captain Thurso, some of the crew and the surviving slaves set up a commune under the influence of the principles of Rousseau . The ship's doctor, freethinking Matthew Paris, becomes a leader in this new world, but is pursued by his cousin Erasmus Kemp, son of...
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