Published by Berkley Genres: Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Format: ARC, eBook
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” – Ephesians 4:28
This book blends fiction and history to tell the story of the Rajah convict ship and its voyage in 1841 taking English female convicts to Tasmania – then Van Diemen’s Island.
Here is a list of the real convicts aboard:
https://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimac…
One hundred eighty Englishwomen board the Rajah in London, 1841. The women have committed petty crimes and are on a three-month voyage to Australia (Tasmania) where they will now reside. Most of their crimes were a result of doing what they needed to do to survive, to pay the bills, to defend themselves and feed their children. But there is one among them who has committed a more serious crime. One who will do anything to survive.
While on board the ships matron, Kezia Hayter has the women make a quilt called the Raja Quilt. It is now housed in the National Gallery of Australia. Can you imagine doing needlework on board a ship? I can barely put needle to thread on solid ground, I cannot imagine doing it while the ship rides the waves but that is what they did.
Toward the middle of the voyage Hattie, a young mother is mortally wounded. Someone on the ship is responsible, but who? As the women begin to be questioned, they also have questions themselves about their own safety, who might have reason to harm Hattie, and what will happen when they reach shore.
Hope Adams does a good job showing what life was like for the women onboard: cramped uncomfortable conditions, bad food, unhygienic conditions, seasickness, having to get along with others, secrets, missing their family and homes, being suspicious of their fellow convicts and unwanted attention (and sometimes wanted attention) from the sailors.
I appreciated that she gave the chapter headers, so we knew what character’s POV was being given and when. Through the various POV’s we learn more about the characters, their pasts, what lead them to be on board the Rajah and what they are doing in their present time of 1841.
Some of the characters in this book are based on the real-life people on board the Rajah, the author changed some of the convict’s names and others are a work of fiction. I enjoyed the story but also felt it could have been pared down a little in the middle. Hope Adams did her research and yet again I have learned a new piece of history from reading a book!
An interesting piece of work – the quilt and the book.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.