The exiles : a novel

In the 1840s, Evangeline, a disgraced, pregnant, British governess is exiled, along with other convict women and men, on a slaver's ship to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). While onboard, Evangeline gives birth to a baby girl, and then the young mother is murdered before landing. Kline vividly portrays the gritty survivor Hazel's convict prison life in Tasmania, orphanages, and British imperialism as shown through Matthina, an adopted aborigine girl. However there is also the lure of a beautiful new world that may give a chance for redemption.