The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

 

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline-371 pages

Seduced by her employer’s son, Evangeline, a young governess in early nineteenth-century London, is discharged when she is accused of stealing and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. After months in the overcrowded jail, she learns she is sentenced to Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in Australia. Though uncertain of what awaits, Evangeline knows one thing: the child she carries will be born on the months-long sea voyage.

During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, - a skilled midwife and herbalist.

While life in Australia is punishing and often brutally unfair, it is also, for some, an opportunity.  A beautiful story of survival and the unbreakable bonds of female friendships.  What these brave women endured is absolutely inspiring.  I loved this book.