Oscar and Lucinda

Peter Carey

November 1, 2010

Oscar and Lucinda is a 1988 novel by the esteemed writer Peter Carey. The novel tells the story of two protagonists, English Anglican priest Oscar Hopkins and Australian heiress Lucinda Leplastrier, and their divergent paths in life as they search for spiritual redemption.The novel opens with Oscar's upbringing in a small English village, where he was raised by his strict Methodist schoolmaster father and quiet, overly religious mother. Oscar rebels against his parents and his restrictive lifestyle, and is sent away to an Anglican seminary. He is soon expelled and, instead of entering the clergy, leaves for Australia with a hope of achieving an godless freedom and challenging his religious beliefs.Meanwhile, Lucinda is an independent, strong-willed young woman living in Australia who decides to bury her naive and oppressive childhood by using her inheritance to fund her own business ventures. Lucinda meets Oscar in Australia and they become unlikely friends, as Lucinda begins to help Oscar in his journeys of religious and personal discovery.Throughout the novel, Oscar and Lucinda's lives remain intertwined as both are searching for their own answers, whether spiritual or business-related. In the end, their lives come together in a remarkable way, with Oscar and Lucinda finding the strength and faith to pursue their seemingly incompatible goals. Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda is a powerful and touching tale of two unlikely allies and their profound journey of discovery and redemption.