Wanting (Grove Press, $14), Australian author Richard Flanagan’s latest historical novel, is a poignant work about the varied objects, yet unified nature, of human desire. Set in 19th-century London and Tasmania, the narrative follows the explorer Sir John Franklin and his wife Jane’s crusade, abetted by a Christian priest, to “civilize” Mathinna, an aboriginal girl. The plot quite literally thickens as Flanagan adds layers of fact and fiction; years later, Charles Dickens re-tells the Franklins’ story. Flanagan extrapolates intimate tales of brutality, betrayal, and hubris from the brief historical relationship between the Franklins and Dickens. Wanting reads like one part biography, two parts fable; it’s a vibrant, dynamic portrait of our drive for fulfillment, and the things—mostly ourselves— that get in the way.
