Based on the life of an incredible historical heroine, a harrowing journey in search of love, justice, and freedom, told by the daughter of best-selling author Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List) Tall and lanky, more suited to sailing and fishing than to keeping a house, Jenny Gwyn has proven herself a survivor. When she's caught stealing to support her impoverished family, the King's justice demands she be hung from the neck until dead. Instead, she and dozens of other prisoners are sent across the world to help settle England's newest colony in Australia. But the harsh landscape of Sydney Cove isn't welcoming to its new settlers, and Jenny is still a prisoner under the strict watch of Governor Edward Lockhart. After being contained on a filthy ship, selling her body for better rations, giving birth to two children, and fighting to better her position in the colony, Jenny refuses to succumb to the barren land unable to support the growing population....

I will go with the men when they rise. Women hunger, and women die, so women must also fight. 1820, London. Sarah McCaffrey, fleeing arrest for her part in a failed rebellion, finds herself alone and on the run. She boards the Serpent, bound from London to the colony of New South Wales - and when the captain's reckless actions lead the ship to be dashed onto Sydney's notorious rocks, Sarah is the only survivor. Adopting a false identity, Sarah determines to make a new life for herself. She takes the first work she can find, under the formidable Molly Thistle, who runs a sprawling trade empire. Sarah begins to see that there is more than one way of changing the world, but her new life is thrown into chaos when her past follows her across the seas.The Wreck is a warm, intelligent and feminist novel, rich in history but deeply relevant to today's world.

When a boatman is murdered on a remote island off Van Dieman's Land, the authorities want to blame a famous, and very inconvenient, political prisoner. But the victim's history of blackmail prompts Monsarrat to look further afield - and not everyone is happy . . . In this, the third in the Monsarrat series, Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat and his trusty housekeeper, Mrs Mulrooney, are sent to remote Maria Island to solve the murder of Bart Harefield, the detested cutter skipper responsible for bringing supplies and correspondence to the island. Bart knows that knowledge is currency and he's not shy about reading the letters he brings across .When Harefield is murdered with an axe, blame is laid at the feet of Thomas Power, the charismatic Irish revolutionary held in detention - with a lot of privileges - on Maria Island. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are told to solve the murder. They soon realise their real job is to tie Power neatly to the crime, so he can be hanged without...

Based on the life of an incredible historical heroine, a harrowing journey in search of love, justice, and freedom, told by the daughter of best-selling author Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List) Jenny Gwyn has proven herself a survivor. Faced with destitution after the death of her father, she toughens her skin to become a highwaywoman in order to support her impoverished family. But one fatal mistake leads to her arrest, and the king’s justice demands her death. Rather than beg for mercy, Jenny condemns the system that would have her choose between obeying the law and dying, and breaking it for a chance to live. Her ferocity convinces the judge to spare her life, sentencing her and dozens of other convicts to a transport across the world to help settle England's newest colony in Australia. After being contained on a filthy ship and selling her body for protection, Jenny is horrified to learn that her struggles have only just begun. The harsh landscape of Sydney Cove isn't welcoming to its new settlers with its arid climate and precious little fresh water, and despite the lack of shackles or bars, she and the others are still prisoners under the strict watch of Governor Edward Lockharty, and no amount of cunning can earn his favor. Jenny refuses to submit to the governor or to the barren land unable to support the growing population. Determined to find a better life for herself and her children, she braves the sea, and a journey of over three thousand miles in a small rowboat, for a chance at a future worth fighting for. Based on the true story of Mary Bryant, an iconic figure in the foundation lore of Australia as Great Britain's penal colony, Fled is a sweeping, heart-wrenching account of one woman's life-long search for freedom.

For Robert Church, superintendent of the Parramatta Female Factory, the most enjoyable part of his job is access to young convict women. Inmate Grace O'Leary has made it her mission to protect the women from his nocturnal visits and when Church is murdered with an awl thrust through his right eye, she becomes the chief suspect. Recently arrived from Port Macquarie, ticket-of-leave gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat now lives in Parramatta with his ever-loyal housekeeper Mrs Mulrooney. Monsarrat, as an unofficial advisor on criminal and legal matters to the governor's secretary, is charged with uncovering the truth of Church's murder. Mrs Mulrooney accompanies him to the Female Factory, where he is taking depositions from prisoners, including Grace, and there the housekeeper strikes up friendships with certain women, which prove most intriguing. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney both believe that Grace is innocent, but in this they are alone, so to exonerate her they must find the...

A fast-paced, witty and gripping historical crime series from Tom Keneally and his eldest daughter Meg. In a penal station for second offenders at the edge of the known world, gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat hungers for a freedom he fears he may never again know. Originally transported for forging documents passing himself off as a lawyer, and later criminalised again for travelling outside the boundaries of his ticket of leave to visit his lover, he is now the trusted clerk of the settlement's Commandant. His position has certain advantages, such as being able to spend time in the Government House kitchen, being supplied with tea by housekeeper Hannah Mulrooney who, despite being illiterate, is one of the most intelligent people at Port Macquarie Penal Settlement. Her pet soldier Private Fergal Slattery, who is in charge of a convict crew hanging green wallpaper at Government House, is also among the kitchen's frequent visitors. With the Commandant away on an expedition,...

Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are sent to Maria Island in January of 1826, the very early days of the penal settlement there, to solve the murder of Harefield who sailed the government cutter between mainland Tasmania and Maria Island bringing all supplies and correspondence and directives - all of which he makes sure he reads. Knowledge is currency. One of Harefield's other responsibilities is to light the primitive lighthouse to keep the whaling boats out to sea safe. During a storm Harefield is shaken from a ladder whilst igniting the light and falls. He is then attacked with an axe and falls over the cliff edge to his death. All blame is laid at the feet of Thomas Power, the charismatic Irish revolutionary held in detention - with a lot of privileges - on Maria Island. But did he do it? The outsiders, Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are brought in to de-escalate gossip and surmise. Power has continued to smuggle his writings out to the British press throughout his internment and the government does not want him gaining further attention. But did the no-doubt trouble-making, charismatic, educated and charming Power sink to the low of murder to prevent the unscrupulous Harefield from blackmailing him? Or were there others who had reason to want Harefield shut up?