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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
A fictional account of a real life voyage of female convicts who were transported from London to Australia in 1841. Mostly onboard the Rajah due to petty crimes such as theft, the women are having to leave their families for many years, some will never see them again. Kezia is in charge of the women for the voyage and she sets up a sewing circle for eighteen of them.. One of the number, Hattie, receives a mysterious message warning her to keep her silence about something but Hattie is not sure what she is supposed to know about one of the others, but before she can work it out, she is stabbed and left for dead. Kezia now has to work with the Captain of the ship, the ship's doctor, and the resident clergyman to find the guilty person before they reach their destination.
This has all the elements of a great read for me: historically based, a strong cast of characters, and a murder mystery upon a ship, and yet something was missing. I'm a fairly fast reader but it took me almost six days to read the book which suggests the narrative didn't hold my attention as well as it should.
The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Kezia and Clara (who has stolen her identity from another unfortunate convict), and I did like the character of Kezia and her shy romance with the Captain was a welcome distraction from the unrelenting grimness of the rest of the story. It was okay but it didn't wow me.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
This has all the elements of a great read for me: historically based, a strong cast of characters, and a murder mystery upon a ship, and yet something was missing. I'm a fairly fast reader but it took me almost six days to read the book which suggests the narrative didn't hold my attention as well as it should.
The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Kezia and Clara (who has stolen her identity from another unfortunate convict), and I did like the character of Kezia and her shy romance with the Captain was a welcome distraction from the unrelenting grimness of the rest of the story. It was okay but it didn't wow me.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Child abuse
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