The Secret River

The Secret River was inspired by Grenville's desire to understand "what had happened when [her ancestor, Solomon] Wiseman arrived ... [on theHawkesbury River at the area now known as Wiseman's Ferry] and started the business of 'settling'".Her inspiration to understand this came from her taking part in the 2000-05-28 Reconciliation Walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge during which she realised that she didn't know much about "what had gone on between the Aboriginal people and the settlers in those early days".Initially intended to be a work of non-fiction about Wiseman, the book eventually became a fictional work based on her research into Wiseman but not specifically about Wiseman himself.The novel is "dedicated to the Aboriginal people of Australia: past, present and future".