| Turtle Beach | |
| Author: | Blanche d'Alpuget |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Publisher: | Penguin |
| Release Date: | 1981 |
| Media Type: | |
| Pages: | 286 pp. |
| Isbn: | 0140057846 |
| Preceded By: | Monkeys in the Dark |
| Followed By: | Robert J. Hawke : A Biography |
Turtle Beach (1981) is a novel by Australian writer Blanche d'Alpuget. It was originally published by Penguin in Australia in 1981.[1]
Set in 1979 the novel follows an Australian journalist who is covering the arrival in Malaysia of ethnic Chinese fleeing oppression in post-war Vietnam.
Writing in The Canberra Times Alison Broinowski noted: "The Australian pilgrimage into Asia is what both of Blanche d'Alpuget's novels are about. In Turtle Beach, however, she goes further, into an exploration of the personality of individual Asians as well. Her Indian academic Kanan and her French-Vietnamese Minou are developed in more depth than most of her Australians. The clashes of culture are more effective because she gives both sides...Blanche d'Alpuget has written a novel whose humanity is above moralising and nationalism. It deserves a wide readership, Australian and Asian.[2]
After its original publication in 1981 in Australia by publisher Penguin[3] the novel was later published as follows:
The novel was also translated into French in 1983, and Japanese in 1992.
The novel was adapted as a feature film of the same name in 1992 featuring Greta Scacchi and Jack Thompson. The film was directed by Stephen Wallace from a screenplay by Ann Turner.[7]