The Potato Factory

The Australian Trilogy, Book 1

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 23 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Always leave a little salt on the bread...

Ikey Solomon's favorite saying is also his way of doing business, and in the business of thieving he's very successful indeed. Ikey's partner in crime is his mistress, the forthright Mary Abacus, until misfortune befalls them. They are parted and each must make the harsh journey from thriving nineteenth century London to the convict settlement of Van Diemen's Land.

In the backstreets and dives of Hobart Town, Mary learns the art of brewing and builds The Potato Factory, where she plans a new future. But her ambitions are threatened by Ikey's wife, Hannah, her old enemy. The two women raise their separate families, one legitimate and the other bastard. As each woman sets out to destroy the other, the families are brought to the edge of disaster.

©2013 Christine Courtenay (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"In the tradition of Charles Dickens, Courtenay creates a unique cast of characters from the outset of this epic novel....Humphrey Bower's performance is a marvel...making this one of those rare books with a sweep of characters the readers come to care about deeply." (AudioFile)

You really must listen to this book!

Why I have ignored Bryce's work for so many years I can only put down to some vague sense of snobbery after all, how could an 'Ad Man&' actually write. The Potato Factory was my first choice for I have a deep, albeit new, connection with Tasmania and the Power of One with all its associated hoopla wasn't going to do it for this cynic.
Well, I bow to a master story teller and apologies for making assumptions, at least in this book, that were totally unjustified. The astringency, pain, suffering, smells, colours, sounds were so well described that even someone devoid of imagination could have all their senses triggered through Humphrey Bower's great gift of sound acting.
I urge you to listen for if you have an interest in historical tales this one cannot disappoint you in any shape or form.
That being said, I am not sure who the sound producer was but listen closely and from time to time as your mind, ears and sense of smell dwell far away in the streets of early London or in the lowlands of Mt Wellington in Tasmania, you will hear that unique ping of someone either turning on or off a computer. Very grounding maybe but an unnecessary distraction; as audios interuptus, it rather spoiled the moment.

Suffered through

How could the performance have been better?

A different book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Potato Factory?

The first 16 Chapters

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyed “The Persimmon Tree” but this was not good….. I’m at a loss… I was hoping it would contain more of the Australian wit seen in “The Persimmon Tree”.

The Potato Factory (Unabridged)

Just excellent!! Could not stop listening!!!
Narrator was amazing!!! This is a must read for all who love historical novels!

I love this author's books!

Any additional comments?

My favorite books are historical fiction. (Michener) I love to finish a book with a new sense of culture or history. So, I am new to Bryce Courtney, and have loved the Australian Trilogy, starting with this one, followed by Tommo and Hawk and then, Solomon's Song. The narration is outstanding, and such a pleasure to listen to.

Then, I moved on to The Power of One, and Tandia. Again, a marvelous listening experience.

Humphrey Bower deserves 5 stars and more. He differentiates the characters beautifully.

The only reason that I didn't give the overall books 5 stars, is that I thought that some of the beating scenes, and boxing scenes were unnecessarily long or redundant. But, the observation of human nature and well-developed dialogue made these books very memorable and worthwhile.

fatal flaw

Excellent story, good performance, compelling writing. Too bad the extremely poor recording ruins it all.

A Strife Laden Tale

I'm am a follower of three of the top seven reviewers, for this book, (Janice, B.J. & Diane).   This author popped up so often I decided to give him a try even though, other than the Outlander series, I am not a big history/fiction reader.  That being said, this story did keep my attention, but I think it was mainly because of the impressive narration. 

The characters were well written but like Janice said "unappealable". The times were dark, but, for these poor folks it was a constant, struggle with hardship and misgivings.  There were instances of heroism, shown mostly by the main character, however, it seemed like they were always answered with tragedy.

This is a bleak and grave story that was so well written and narrated that I could not stop reading it. Much like a like a train wreck, you can't help but watch. A few compassionate characters and or inspirational  occurrences would have made this, for me, a more balanced and advantageous book. Well written an narrated, like I said, just to grim for me.

writer with unfortunate influences

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I have read the author has said "Growing up in a strict, punishing church-run orphanage in South Africa during the apartheid era... ‘I know all about the God of wrath but have never met the God of love"
Unfortunately this has lead to a narrow and flawed view of Christianity reflected in this story.
Among the vast number who loved the book, another reviewer commented on bigoted treatment of religion.
That is my biggest problem with this book though I disliked, what I felt, was excessive detail of the cruelty and squalor of the time.

Has The Potato Factory turned you off from other books in this genre?

From the author not the genre

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

excellent

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no

Masterful!

I would rate this my favorite listen of 2018. Historical fiction is my preferred genre and this book must've popped up as a recommendation for me. Humphrey Bower as narrator is absolutely superb and ranks right up there with Jim Dale in my opinion as top in the craft. Certainly the violence and despair can be difficult to listen to at times. I found myself wondering if I would have the same will to live and persevere that Mary did. But the writing is so richly descriptive and the characters so lively I was transfixed. I'm glad I discovered both Bryce Courtenay and Humphrey Bower and plan to listen to many more books. As a side note, I think the accusations of anti-Semitism are completely unwarranted. Just because Ikey Solomon is a criminal does not mean the book is anti-Semitic.

An Absolutely Amazing TALE

I did not like this book to start as it was a constant diet of the nastiest side of life with nothing good or the better side of life., I nearly tossed it in and I thought Bryce Courtney had lost it on this one. But it turned out to be just setting the scene for what occurred later and it turned out to be totally uplifting story from the dregs to a way through. This man so knows mankind-such insight. And his historical detail is remarkable. He does not hide anything of life. A super master writer.

Tremendous

I cant wait for more of this duo of author and reader to come out. Keep up the good work