The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

Christina's level of research into characters, place and time to tell a powerful story of suffering and survival in an historical fiction is masterful' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz 'Gorgeous' Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale London, 1840. Evangeline has languished in Newgate prison for months, falsely accused of stealing her master's ring. Now beginning the long journey to Australia on a prison ship, she hopes for a new life for both her and her unborn child. On board she befriends Hazel, sentenced to seven years' transport for theft, whose own path will cross with an orphaned indigenous girl. The governor of Tasmania has 'adopted' Mathinna, but the family treat her more as a curiosity than a child. Amid hardships and cruelties, new life will take root in stolen soil and friendships will define lives, but only some will find their place on the other side of the world. '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, bestselling author of The Paris Wife