The Exiles: 'Masterful' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

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Naive Evangeline lost her position as a governess and her grip on her destiny when she found herself pregnant out of wedlock. After spending months in Newgate prison, she doesn't know whether she should be grateful or despairing when she is moved to a prison ship. What she does know is that her child will almost certainly be born during the journey to Australia. On board, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, practically a child herself, sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon.

Great Britain considers Australia an unpeopled colony, but Mathinna is the orphaned daughter of the chief of the Lowreenne tribe, one of a number of peoples whose lands have been seized and their way of life subject to criticism, study, and missionary zeal. Adopted by the new governor of Tasmania and brought to Hobart to live with the family, Mathinna is treated more like a curiosity than a child.

Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna will become part of the story of the creation of a new society in the land beyond the seas.

'Master storyteller Christina Baker Kline is at her best in this epic tale of Australia's complex history - a vivid and rewarding feat of both empathy and imagination. I loved this book.' - Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife

Reviews

'Gripping...Filled with surprising twists, empathetic prose, and revealing historical details, Kline's resonant, powerful story will please any historical fiction fan.' - Publishers Weekly


'Kline deftly balances tragedy and pathos, making happy endings hard-earned and satisfying...Book groups will find much to discuss, such as the uses of education, both formal and informal, in this moving work.' - Booklist

'Both uplifting and heartbreaking, this beautifully written novel doesn't flinch from the ugliness of the penal system but celebrates the courage and resilience of both the first peoples and the settlers who came after, voluntarily or not, to create a new home for themselves and their children.' - Library Journal (starred review)

Author Bio

Christina Baker Kline is the author of seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train. Her other novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines, and Sweet Water, as well as Orphan Train Girl, a middle-grade adaptation of Orphan Train. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Money, More, and Psychology Today, among other publications. She lives in New York City and the on the coast of Maine.