*Blog Tour: The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

Today I'm on the blog tour for the fantastic The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline. I received an ARC to enable me to take part on the tour. I absolutely loved this book!

London,1840. Evangeline lost more than just her position as a governess when she was accused of stealing, realising she was pregnant by her employer’s son. Having languished in Newgate prison for months in her condition, she is now destined for a prison ship heading to Australia.

On board, Evangeline befriends Hazel, sentenced to seven years’ transport for theft. Soon Hazel's path will cross with an orphaned indigenous girl. Mathinna is 'adopted' by the new governor of Tasmania where the family treat her more like a curiosity than a child.

Amid hardships and cruelties, new life will take root in stolen soil, friendships will define lives, and some will find their place in a new society in the land beyond the seas.

About the Author:

Christina Baker Kline is the author of seven novels including the #1 New York Times bestseller 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 on the coast of Maine.

My thoughts?

The story is set in London in 1840, aboard a boat bound for Australia and in Australia itself. It's richly drawn and the author has thoroughly researched real life history effortlessly incorporating it into the story.

Governess and former Vicar's daughter, Evangeline finds herself pregnant and accused of theft and attempted murder. Before her eyes she's shipped off to Newgate Prison where her nightmare really begins.. She's sentenced to 14 years transportation and becomes friends with another convict, Hazel whom she teaches to read on the long hard voyage and Hazel in return shares her herbalist skills. She also becomes a friend of sorts to the ship's surgeon. When disaster strikes onboard (this part of the book really saddened me) Hazel is there to lend a hand.

Life is hard in Australia and at the Cascades Female Factory on Van Diemans Land in Hobart, Tasmania where the convicts do their time. Hazel meets aboriginal girl, Mathinna who is the Governor's wife's plaything until she grows tired of her. She thought nothing of tearing her away from her tribe and all that she knew just to please her.

When Hazel is betrayed she asks the doctor for help with Ruby, although the sailor from the voyage is biding his time for revenge.. I thought the ending was quite apt and I felt Ruby finally got closure. I really enjoyed the story which was sometimes heartbreakingly sad, interesting and had well rounded characters who I grew to care about. Would highly recommend.