Wanting is a 2008 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan. Plot summary Wanting cuts between two stories based on real historical figures under the central theme of 'wanting' and is set in both nineteenth century Tasmania and Britain. One tells the tale of an Aboriginal child, Mathinna, adopted by then governor of Van Diemen’s Land, Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane; the other of Charles Dickens’ love affair with Ellen Ternan after one of his daughters dies. Reception Many critics regarded Wanting one of the best novels of the year. Notes Dedication: "For Kevin Perkins". Epigraph: "You see, reason, gentlemen, is a fine thing, that is unquestionable, but reason is only reason and satisfies only man's reasoning capacity, while wanting is a manifestation of the whole of life." Fyodor Dostoevsky Epigraph: "That which is wanting cannot be numbered." Ecclesiastes Awards 2008 Western Australia Premier's Prize 2009 Queensland Premier's Prize 2009 New Yorker Notable Book of the Year 2009 Washington Post Book of the Year 2009 London Observer Book of the Year Reviews "The Australian" "Publishers Weekly" "New York Times" "... the savagery of the colonizing powers and further still the savagery of civilised society is laid bare for the reader to reflect upon. Flanagan’s writing style is masterful, grabbing the reader by the shoulders and forcing them to delve into their own ideologies and beliefs on good and evil, discipline and desire, right and wrong.'' "Booklover Book Reviews" http://www.lemonde.fr/livres/article/2010/11/04/desirer-de-richard-flanagan_1435275_3260.html http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-richard-flanagan10-2009may10,0,5098051.story Interviews Jason Steger in "The Age" Ramona Kaval on "The Book Show" Simon Bevilacqua in "The Mercury" Sally Warhaft on "Slow TV" References External links Wanting - at Penguin Books 2008 Australian novels Novels by Richard Flanagan Novels set in Tasmania