Taronga

TitleTaronga
Year for Search1986
AuthorsKelleher, Victor [Michael Kitchener](b. 1939)
Date Published1986
PublisherViking Kestral
Place PublishedRingwood, VIC, Australia
KeywordsAustralian author, English author, Male author, South African author
Annotation

Young adult post-catastrophe dystopia set in Australia. The catastrophe, which is not described, has left people fighting to survive and turning to cannibalism. Taronga, which is the Sydney zoo, looks like a food source to some but others protect the animals. At the end, after an epic battle, the animals are freed and move out into the countryside as do the central characters, a girl and a boy.

Additional Publishers

U.K. ed. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1988.

Holding Institutions

L, NZ, VUW

Author Note

The author (b. 1939)was born in England and at age fifteen moved to South Africa with his parents and was lived and educated there, receiving degrees from three South African universities, including a doctorate in English Literature from the University of South Africa. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1973 and to Australia in 1976.

Full Text

1986 Kelleher, Victor [Michael Kitchener] (b. 1939). Taronga. Ringwood, VIC, Australia: Viking Kestral, 1986. U.K. ed. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1988. L, NZ, VUW

Young adult post-catastrophe dystopia set in Australia. The catastrophe, which is not described, has left people fighting to survive and turning to cannibalism. Taronga, which is the Sydney zoo, looks like a food source to some but others protect the animals. At the end, after an epic battle, the animals are freed and move out into the countryside as do the central characters, a girl and a boy.