Book Review: Flinders by Grantlee Kieza | Jennifer's Best Bookish Blog

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Summary

Flinders is a biography of the life and voyages of Matthew Flinders, explorer, who mapped the coastline of Australia.

This biography follows Flinders’ final voyage home from Australia, in 1810, after being imprisoned by the French. Even though Matthew Flinders died young, at age 40, his legacy as one of the world’s greatest maritime adventurers is still very highly respected. His adventures started at age 16, and he very quickly rose through the naval ranks and played an important part in the French Revolutionary wars.

Flinders is not only about his sailing achievements but also documents his personal life, including his very strong love for his wife, Ann, and his life long friendships.

When exploring the coasts of Australia, Flinders was accompanied by Bungaree, his Aboriginal interpreter and guide. Always by his side at sea, was his beloved cat Trim. The maps Flinders charted were very exact and are still in use today.

The above description is very limited, as there is much to discover about the life of Matthew Flinders and the contributions he made to the exploration and mapping of Australia.

I love Grantlee Kieza’s writing, and the way he brings his subjects to life. I’ve read many of his books and loved them all. All I knew about Matthew Flinders before reading this book, was that he mapped the coastline of Australia, and his cat sailed with him. I now realise that the story of this amazing explorer and sailor is much more than that.

This is not a dry biography that mainly focuses on historical details. Flinders is the story of a man with a very complicated life who did whatever was necessary to achieve his goals. His personal life also made very interesting reading.

Published May 2023, 355 pages

Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.

⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.

⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.

The book mentioned in this post is of my own choice and has not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.

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