Fled is Meg Keneally's debut novel largely based on the life of Mary Bryant but fictionalised beyond the known records.
The heroine called Jenny started robbing people following the death of her father in order for her devastated mother not to starve. Apprehended, she expected to be hanged but was sentenced to Botany Bay for seven years. The book tells us her adventures crossing the oceans, having a child, marrying, building a settlement, then escaping starvation in captivity in a small boat.
The novel is quite well written, the start a little slow but well worth persevering with as I found the later stages quite gripping and hard to put down.
It is a step above most historical sagas as the story is believable due to its loosely factual historical basis.
I am happy to recommend it to a wider readership than would generally read this genre.
The heroine called Jenny started robbing people following the death of her father in order for her devastated mother not to starve. Apprehended, she expected to be hanged but was sentenced to Botany Bay for seven years. The book tells us her adventures crossing the oceans, having a child, marrying, building a settlement, then escaping starvation in captivity in a small boat.
The novel is quite well written, the start a little slow but well worth persevering with as I found the later stages quite gripping and hard to put down.
It is a step above most historical sagas as the story is believable due to its loosely factual historical basis.
I am happy to recommend it to a wider readership than would generally read this genre.