The Bell of the World

By Gregory Day,

Book cover of The Bell of the World

Book description

When a troubled Sarah Hutchinson returns to Australia from boarding school in England and time spent in Europe, she is sent to live with her eccentric Uncle Ferny on the family property, Ngangahook. With the sound of the ocean surrounding everything they do on the farm, Sarah and her uncle


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Bell of the World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I could not bear to put this book down. Each time I reached the end, I started again from the beginning. It lived on my bedside table for months. It was only after three readings that I could let it go.

Gregory Day had drawn me right into the places and times of early settler colonialism; his characters formed, against the odds, a way of life that was creative—poetic, musical, sensual, and, above all, ecological. They listened to the earth and found their place as part of it, belonging to it and belonging to the Earth. 

If you love The Bell of the World...

Ad

Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it


Want books like The Bell of the World?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Bell of the World.

Browse books like The Bell of the World

Book cover of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
Book cover of Gilead
Book cover of The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,007

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Bell of the World, you might also like...

Book cover of The Prisoner's Apprentice

The Prisoner's Apprentice by Cheyenne Richards,

Clever Boy. Genius Killer. True Story.

In his father's jail, young Albert finds what he's always wanted: a teacher who understands him. But some lessons exact a terrible price. When brilliant murderer Edward Rulloff is imprisoned in Ithaca, he offers Albert an education most boys in 1846 could only dream


Book cover of My War with Hemingway

My War with Hemingway by James Charles,

Zach, a young veteran, contemplates suicide after a horrific tour in Afghanistan when Ernest Hemingway appears and stops him. He enrolls in college, where he falls in love with Jessica, a young woman from a wealthy family. Her love stabilizes him, and Hemingway’s appearances become less frequent until she doesn’t


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in colonialism, Australia, and boarding schools?

Colonialism 97 books
Australia 342 books
Boarding Schools 91 books