The First Fleet left Portsmouth, England on the 13th of May 1787, and it took eight months to reach the new penal colony in New South Wales and aboard the Sirius are Philip Gidley King an officer in the Royal Navy and Ann Inett a convict.

Ann's a seamstress and single mother when she’s arrested for a petty crime and she’s convicted without a fair trial. Second Lieutenant Gidley King is worried about the terrible conditions the female convicts are enduring and he ventures below decks.

Governor Arthur Phillips sends Gidley King on an expedition to Norfolk Island not long after they arrive in Port Jackson and to start another settlement. They have trouble finding a place to land, after days of circling the Island they finally make it ashore. Ann’s understands the predicament she’s in and female convicts need a proctor and when Gidley King asks her to be his housekeeper, she accepts. Norfolk Island is not what they expected, it takes a lot of hard work to clear the land, plant crops and keep the bugs at bay. Two years pass and Ann and Gidley have a son called Norfolk and another on the way when he’s sent back to England by Governor Phillip’s to explain what’s happening in Port Jackson and on Norfolk Island, food is scarce and being rationed.

Ann has another boy and she names him Sydney and eighteen months later Gidley returns and he’s not alone. Anna Josepha King is his new wife, she had no idea Gidley had a mistress and two illegitimate sons in New South Wales. Anna Josepha and Gidley are sent back to Norfolk Island and later they return to Sydney and when he’s appointed the Governor of New South Wales and here Anna Josepha opens an orphanage for girls and raises the couple’s children.

I received a copy of The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress from NetGalley and Allen & Unwin in exchange for an unbiased review. In her latest book Sue Williams uses real people as a bases and the First Fleets historic trip across the Pacific Ocean in her narrative, it was long and brutal journey, especially for convicts and many died during the voyage and she explores what it was like living in New South Wales and Norfolk Island in the early years of settlement.

Anna Josepha was a remarkable woman, she cared about Ann’s boy’s welfare and education and many in her position wouldn’t have and with kindness and grace. Ann Inett and her fellow female convicts and friends, were strong, courageous and went on to be influential and powerful women in the new country. However, as a mother I can’t imagine being separated from my son, Ann had four children, and hers was a sad and heartbreaking situation to be in and she wasn't the only one.

Five stars from me, this is the third book I have read by Sue Williams and I highly recommend The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress and Elizabeth & Elizabeth and That Bligh Girl for readers who enjoy well written historical fiction set in the new colony of New South Wales and Australia.