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tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘A knife … is it true? Who’s got a knife?’
On 5 April 1841, the Rajah set sail from Woolwich, England en route for Van Diemen’s Land. She carried 180 female convicts. Kezia Hayter accompanied the women as matron, in charge of the prisoners and their ten children. The journey took fifteen weeks: the Rajah arrived at Hobart on 19 July 1841. During the journey, a number of the convict women made the Rajah Quilt, which is now held in the National Gallery of Australia (https://nga.gov.au/rajahquilt/).
Around these facts, Ms Adams has woven an historical thriller involving fictional convicts, including one who has stolen the identity of another to survive. In this novel, Kezia Hayter selects eighteen women to work with her on the quilt. The activity draws the women together and tentative friendships form. And then one of them is stabbed. Fatally. Who stabbed her, and why? Some of the women working on the quilt were on deck at the same time as the woman was stabbed, and it seems likely that one of them is guilty. The mood aboard the ship changes as the women become fearful for their safety. Kezia Hayter and the Captain want to find the truth, and an inquiry is launched.
Ms Adams brings the confined quarters of the ship to life: the cramped, uncomfortable conditions, the monotonous food, the seasickness. The chapters alternate between past (in which we learn more about some of the characters and how they came to be aboard the Rajah) and present. And the answer to the murder may come as a surprise.
Ms Adams chose to create fictional characters for the convict characters in her novel because some of the real women on the voyage have living descendants. Some of the others named (including Kezia Hayter) were aboard the Rajah.
‘A patchwork of souls.’
I have seen the Rajah Quilt on display at the National Gallery of Australia (it is not on permanent display because of its fragility). For those interested in more information about the making of the quilt, I can recommend this book: ‘Patchwork prisoners: the Rajah Quilt and the women who made it’ by Trudy Cowley and Dianne Snowden. This is one of the books included in Ms Adams’s Bibliography.
I enjoyed the novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
On 5 April 1841, the Rajah set sail from Woolwich, England en route for Van Diemen’s Land. She carried 180 female convicts. Kezia Hayter accompanied the women as matron, in charge of the prisoners and their ten children. The journey took fifteen weeks: the Rajah arrived at Hobart on 19 July 1841. During the journey, a number of the convict women made the Rajah Quilt, which is now held in the National Gallery of Australia (https://nga.gov.au/rajahquilt/).
Around these facts, Ms Adams has woven an historical thriller involving fictional convicts, including one who has stolen the identity of another to survive. In this novel, Kezia Hayter selects eighteen women to work with her on the quilt. The activity draws the women together and tentative friendships form. And then one of them is stabbed. Fatally. Who stabbed her, and why? Some of the women working on the quilt were on deck at the same time as the woman was stabbed, and it seems likely that one of them is guilty. The mood aboard the ship changes as the women become fearful for their safety. Kezia Hayter and the Captain want to find the truth, and an inquiry is launched.
Ms Adams brings the confined quarters of the ship to life: the cramped, uncomfortable conditions, the monotonous food, the seasickness. The chapters alternate between past (in which we learn more about some of the characters and how they came to be aboard the Rajah) and present. And the answer to the murder may come as a surprise.
Ms Adams chose to create fictional characters for the convict characters in her novel because some of the real women on the voyage have living descendants. Some of the others named (including Kezia Hayter) were aboard the Rajah.
‘A patchwork of souls.’
I have seen the Rajah Quilt on display at the National Gallery of Australia (it is not on permanent display because of its fragility). For those interested in more information about the making of the quilt, I can recommend this book: ‘Patchwork prisoners: the Rajah Quilt and the women who made it’ by Trudy Cowley and Dianne Snowden. This is one of the books included in Ms Adams’s Bibliography.
I enjoyed the novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
alrauna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
julmd4's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
melcanread's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.0
This was definitely an interesting read to say the least.
In 1841, a ship called the Rajah left the shores of England and headed for Australia, transporting 180 female criminals to serve their sentences down-under. This book is a fictional retelling of the historical voyage, and bringing awareness to the white person's origins in Australia... while also being a murder-mystery. Cue an Agatha Christie opening.
I'm very indifferent towards this book. I have no strong opinions either way. I liked it. I read it easily in one sitting and enjoyed my time. And I'd be happy to reread it if I ever got into the mood for it. But it didn't captivate me like I thought it would or even wanted it to. There was nothing particularly memorable about it except that it was a historical fiction about a real voyage. The ending was great, and satisfying to some extent. The writing was a little monotonous and I did get a little bored at times. It felt like the book was longer than it needed to be at 300 pages... but, no. It was fine otherwise.
In 1841, a ship called the Rajah left the shores of England and headed for Australia, transporting 180 female criminals to serve their sentences down-under. This book is a fictional retelling of the historical voyage, and bringing awareness to the white person's origins in Australia... while also being a murder-mystery. Cue an Agatha Christie opening.
I'm very indifferent towards this book. I have no strong opinions either way. I liked it. I read it easily in one sitting and enjoyed my time. And I'd be happy to reread it if I ever got into the mood for it. But it didn't captivate me like I thought it would or even wanted it to. There was nothing particularly memorable about it except that it was a historical fiction about a real voyage. The ending was great, and satisfying to some extent. The writing was a little monotonous and I did get a little bored at times. It felt like the book was longer than it needed to be at 300 pages... but, no. It was fine otherwise.
nls3019's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kentcryptid's review against another edition
2.5
I very much wanted this book to subvert Victorian tropes of class stereotypes, paternalism, punishment and religion, and it didn't do it. I found Kezia - effectively the main character, although the book contains other POVs - sanctimonious and infuriating, and I seriously question the way the book presents transportation as a positive for these women, who have been arrested for mostly very minor crimes.
booklandish's review against another edition
4.0
105 days at sea...It is in that locked-boat situation that this story unfolds. Based on real facts, this fictional journey was inspiring. At its heart, it is a tale of second chances and redemption and found family. The murder mystery element was an interesting bit of suspense too! And of course, I was fascinated by the quilt, the patchwork piece which inspired the book. I found the writing a bit clumsy at times and guilty of "telling instead of showing", but not in a way that took me out of the story. It is a really enjoyable historical fiction that I devoured in 24 hours!
"The very act of coming together every single day, of sitting quietly, sewing, one next to another, of knowing that what they were achieving was something of beauty: that had made them more than a gathering of individual souls; that was what had transformed them into a sisterhood."
"The very act of coming together every single day, of sitting quietly, sewing, one next to another, of knowing that what they were achieving was something of beauty: that had made them more than a gathering of individual souls; that was what had transformed them into a sisterhood."
rooftop_rabbit's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0