In this fascinating book, the author takes a footnote in history and from it teases the human stories behind the fact. The second fleet to Australia specifically addressed the need for female convicts by emptying the gaols of London. By tracing court records, journals, naval reports and other primary sources, Rees populates the ship with real characters. Not so much a brothel as a group of women struggling against the odds and (mostly) succeeding.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 28 February 2005 ) |
