 "Gould's Book of Fish" is a fictionalised account of the convict William Buelow Gould's life both at Macquarie Harbour and elsewhere during his life in Van Diemen's Land.The novel is unusual in that it makes use of paintings by the real Van Diemonian convict artist William Buelow Gould reproduced with permission from William Gould's "Sketchbook of Fishes", held by the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, in the State Library of Tasmania.These images of fish are used both as chapter headings and inspiration for characters.