Kate Grenville on colonist John Macarthur: 'It'd be nice to see some of those statues toppled'

The wife of the early colonist, Elizabeth, is the subject of Grenville’s new novel: a dance between history and fiction that was the topic of our book club

Kate Grenville may have featured the corrupt early colonist John Macarthur in her new work of Australian historical fiction, A Room Made of Leaves, but that doesn’t mean the author believes he should be celebrated.

In a wide-ranging conversation about history, fact and fiction for Guardian Australia’s third monthly online book club – a Melbourne writers’ festival event that was hosted on Zoom – Grenville in fact agreed that Macarthur was “a royal shit”.

Related: A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville review – the untold story of an unruly woman | Kirsten Tranter

Related: The Australian book you should read next: The Secret River by Kate Grenville

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