Audiences and critics are relishing the release of The Narrow Road to the Deep North, an adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s historical novel. The book was published in 2013 and won the Man Booker prize. The release of the series and the marking of ANZAC Day make for the perfect moment to revisit the celebrated novel.
What is ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ about?
The novel follows Dorrigo Evans, an Australian surgeon and reluctant war hero, as he recalls his harrowing experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Death Railway during World War II.
Through a fragmented, lyrical narrative, we move between three states. First, the brutal camp life, where Dorrigo fights to keep his fellow POWs alive under horrific Japanese conditions. Second, a forbidden pre-war love affair with his uncle’s young wife, Amy, which haunts him for decades. And finally, post-war fame and personal guilt, as Dorrigo becomes a national figure, but internally battles shame, infidelity and a deep disconnection from the people around him.
At its heart, the novel is about memory, trauma, love, survival and the blurred line between heroism and failure. The title is a nod to a 17th century Japanese travel diary by poet Bashō, reflecting the novel’s meditation on transience and the long, winding path of human suffering.
Why did Richard Flanagan write ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’?
Flanagan’s father, Archie Flanagan, was a survivor of the Thai-Burma Death Railway, one of the most brutal wartime projects of World War II. Over 100,000 people died there – prisoners of war and civilians alike – and his father was one of the Australian POWs who lived through it.
Flanagan struggled for 12 years to write the novel. He started and abandoned five different versions before finding the form that worked. He later said he wrote the book to try to understand what his father and his generation endured, and why it marked them for life.
Tragically — and poetically — his father died on the day Flanagan finished the book.
Was Richard Flanagan involved in the making of the series ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’?
Flanagan is listed as Executive Producer on the series, but he didn’t pen the screenplay or serve as director. He largely supported the creative efforts of director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant to bring the novel to the screen.
