He is also one to whom great stories have been given. Thus, a chance encounter with the owner of a Los Angeles luggage store provided the germ of his Booker Prize-winning novel,
Schindler's Ark (1982, published also as
Schindler's List). His research on Meagher and a deepening interest in American history led Keneally to the extravagant life of Sickles, a man who had introduced his mistress to Queen Victoria while he was secretary to the American ambassador, James Buchanan; objected to his wife's adultery while expecting his own to be condoned; shot her lover and was acquitted on the first successful plea of temporary insanity. In
American Scoundrel he dramatizes Sickles's controversial role at Gettysburg, where he lost a leg. Later adventures included an affair with the deposed queen of Spain. Sickles may be an historical figure, but the novelist takes over: Sickles is magnetic, histrionic, duplicitous, and expansive of appetite and imagination.
Thomas Keneally was born to Edmund Thomas and Elsie Coyle Keneally in Sydney on 7 October 1935, but he grew up in the north coastal region of New South Wales where both his grandfathers had come after emigrating from Ireland.
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