The Exiles is a wonderful read, a richly satisfying piece of historical fiction that also serves a character study of the women who created Australia through grit and struggle. Christina Baker Kline's research is both thorough and invisible as we are swept in to the individual tales of three female convicts forced to make the journey from London to modern-day Tasmania. And we learn the story of an Aboriginal orphan who finds herself forced to live with English officials, her lot equally as grim as those of the female convicts. Graphic and brutal at times, there is also tremendous hope and strength in this story. We spoke to Christina Baker Kline on Satellite Sisters about her work. The Exiles is a Best Beach bag Book pick for 2021.

Pros :: An amazingly immersive novel; as a reader, you can smell the surroundings (usually not pleasant, see the grime of the prisons and bleakness of Van Diemen’s and feel the heartbreak of the way the Aboriginals were treated and Mathinna in particular with Evangeline, Olive, Hazel, Ruby, etc). Great job in making Hazel momentarily sympathetic to Buck. #TheExiles #NetGalley

Cons :: Surprised that Evangeline was able to teach Hazel to read in 4 months.

Cover art :: 5 out of 5. Good usage of making the ship appear so small and the ocean so vast.

This book is beautifully written loved everything about it. The story is fantastic and compelling. I love how it explored a bit of history I was not aware of