I was drawn to this book because it is a piece of historical fiction which is based on a real event. On this basis it didn't disappoint, hence my 4 star rating.

Hope Adams has created a good group of fictional characters and as the journey over nearly four months progresses, their characteristics unfold.

The dual timeframe is used effectively, on this occasion referring to different states in the journey of the convict ship, Rajah, between London and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1841.

The novel explores the tragic backgrounds of the women being transported with some reference to what life was like aboard the sailing ship for several months.

This much, we learn in the postscript is closely linked real events. Within the story there is a more fictional element, about which I won't go into detail for fear of spoiling the story. Suffice to say that there is an element of whodunit within this part of the narrative.

There are several twists and turns in the plot before the truth is revealed.

I enjoyed the book enough to say that I will look out for future novels by Hope Adams on the strength of this story.

I give my thanks to Netgalley and Penguin (Michael Joseph) for a copy in exchange for this review.

This was such an interesting read. I had no idea about the truth behind this historical fiction and I learnt so much whilst reading this book. I love that the authors inspiration for this book came from seeing the actual quilt that was made by the convicted women featured in the book in a museum. There's something about a detail like that that makes a book feel so much more magical. 
This book was very well researched and the author did such a fantastic job of painting a picture and really making me feel like I was on the Rajah. 
The author kept the true facts in this book and also kept the book flowing like a story rather than a recounting of an event. I love books about real life events but they have to still be engaging otherwise I can't stay interested. 
The murder mystery aspect of this book is very much in the background and I found I was left wanting more with that part of the story. 
Overall this was an interesting and well-written book that I am so glad I read

‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams is based off the true story about the Rajah where over one hundred female convicts from across England went on board the ship on a journey to Australia in 1841. Many of them found themselves on the ship for crimes that were petty theft or other small crimes. During their three month journey, the women created the beautiful and famous Rajah Quilt made from materials of their own.

During their long journey across the sea, one of the prisoners gets murdered and all the women are left confined on a boat wondering if they will be next. They are now on a mission to find the murderer before they take another life.

Each chapter swaps between each of the main character’s point of view meaning we get a better insight to each character as we learn all about their back stories that lead them to them to their journey to Australia. You also get an insight into life on the ship as convicts. You get a real feel for the hardships that have been thrown their way all their lives that threw them into committing crimes and the conditions they now found themselves under on the ship. I really felt for each character and found myself drawn into the main story as they tried to figure out who caused the murder.

The author has done an amazing job of mixing in real life and a murder story. Beautifully described, I really felt as though I was in the story and on the ship itself.

If you love murder mysteries or historical fiction then you should check out ‘Dangerous Women’.

"That's what we, too, are like, us women... We're many small pieces, each of us different but now stitched together. A patchwork of souls."

Dangerous Women is a story of dark secrets, intrigue, betrayal and redemption. Flawlessly blending fact with fiction, the author has reimagined the story group of needlewomen who made the Rajah Quilt and crafted an epic sea voyage turned locked room murder mystery where everyone is a suspect and anyone could be next...

As soon as I heard about this book I knew it was one I had to read. I'm a big lover of the three key elements at the heart of this book and had high expectations. It did not disappoint. The author brings the past to life, telling the story of the Rajah’s long journey from London to Van Diemen’s Land with almost two hundred female convicts on board. Exquisitely written, richly imagined, and told with finesse, it is a real labour of love. Her passion for the subject is poured onto the pages and the depth of her research is clear as she immerses you in the women’s bleak world aboard the ship. Her love for this story is so infectious that it has sparked a desire in me to learn more about the Rajah, its ladies and the quilt, and I’ve got a number of books added to my wishlist so I can delve deeper.

Moving between past and present, the story is narrated by three women - Kezia, Clara and Hattie - who each offer a unique voice and perspective. All of the characters are vibrant and compelling, with richly drawn backstories full of heartbreaking tragedy. We learn that most of the women have only broken the law due to desperation and are as much victims as criminals. Thankfully, their matron Kezia understands this and is there to advocate for them with the other staff on board who may have been more ready to dismiss them as mere criminals without a thought for what they have endured. I loved her character and am eager to know more about the real woman she is based on, particularly her work with Elizabeth Fry.

I love character-driven stories so I revelled in the fact that the author made the women’s stories as fundamental as she did the murder investigation. It made me care about them, root for them and have a stake in the outcome. Though as I learned more about them I actually found it harder to predict who might have stabbed poor Hattie. The author had embedded the truth in the women and their stories with such skill that it was invisible even to my watchful eye, making my jaw drop when it was revealed.

Atmospheric, mysterious, suspenseful and compelling, this is a beautiful piece of historical fiction. If you are a fan of this genre, then make sure you pick up this book.

Inspired by the Rajah ship that transported female convicts from England to Australia in 1841 in a three-month voyage, Dangerous Women recreates an environment where women are forced to rely and depend on each other.

In a ‘then and now’ timeline we are slowly revealed the events before and after the murder takes place, investigating how much of a struggle it was for these women to stay alive.

What I really loved about this book was the depth of character that it creates. In a multiple-perspective narrative, we get to witness different character backgrounds that give an insight into how women were treated during the time, and what lead them to commit petty crimes in order to survive. Giving them each a history really added to their individual personalities and invoked an emotional connection between each of them, and the reader.

Kezia, the matron in charge of the women aboard the Rajah, fights to improve the conditions for these imprisoned women, believing whole-heartedly in second chances and supporting them however she can. It is her idea to start the Rajah quilt and encourages a group of chosen women to partake, eager to get them involved as possible. With descriptions of individual patchwork tiles as chapter headings, the story becomes as beautifully interwoven like the fabric itself.

Dangerous Women is an exquisitely written book with a locked-room mystery to keep you on your toes. With women at the heart of this book, this engrossing tale investigates survival, guilt and forgiveness.

I’ve been on a bit of a historical kick lately, and I really enjoyed Dangerous Women. It is a fun escapist story, with the added quality of being based in a real historical moment. While the characters and story are fictional, the ship, the Rajah, existed, and was used to transport prisoners from the UK to Australia in 1841. The quilt the woman produce over the course of the journey exists and is absolutely stunning, giving the story an added dimension.

I found this to be well-written and full of interesting characters. It really is a character-driven story, and not very fast paced. I feel like it could have been condensed a bit, but not massively so. What irritated me a bit while reading – and this is likely due to reading an eARC and generally being terrible at noticing chapter headers – is that it switches around on the timeline quite often, but because it’s all on the ship it isn’t always obvious from context. This got me a bit muddled up for a while, but I think that’s more of a me problem than anything else.

The resolution of the story is very satisfying and it never felt very obvious how the story might turn out. The ARC I read was at times a bit more superficial than I would have preferred, but overall it did not detract from my enjoyment. It is not a perfect book, but if you like historical fiction or novels such as The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton, you might like this one too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I've been a fan of Adele Geras for a long time, particularly her young adult retellings of Greek mythology from a female perspective. I actually requested this book before even knowing it was her under a pen-name, as the synopsis sounded intriguing, and I wasn't disappointed. She takes a disgraceful portion of English history, transportation, and looks at it from a feminist perspective with the added plot twist of a murder on board the ship. I must admit I didn't predict the culprit - I actually feel that maybe there weren't quite enough breadcrumbs left for the reader to follow, but I didn't mind as the rest of the story was so compelling. I would also have appreciated a bit more backstory for some of the characters, but I know there are only so many pages! All in all a great take on a little-known story.

This was a fascinating book, based in part on the true story of the ship Rajah and its voyage to take female convicts to Van Dieman’s Land (now Tasmania ) with an added murder mystery thrown in. The quilt that some of the ladies are making is real as currently housed in the National Gallery of Australia where it has been since 1989.

This clever blend of history and fiction made a great read, with some of the characters such as Kezia Hayter the matron on the voyage and Captain Ferguson based on real people it adds to the sense of reality.

The story felt well paced and balanced. I read this as an eBook and I did at times wish I was reading a physical copy so I could flip back and forth and make connections. Purely personal preference of course.

The atmosphere on the ship felt thick and oppressive form the beginning with the description of the conditions below deck where the women spent the majority of their time was horrific. Dark and dirty with no real way to keep clean it is amazing that the women remained as well and healthy as they did.

The story skips between the April at the start of the voyage and July when the voyage is well under way. We learn who our victim is fairly early on and the rest of the story is trying to unpick why she was attacked. The book is well crafted with the time skips and the women the story focusses on thinking back to their previous lives before they were convicted as we slowly learn the (often heart breaking) reasons why they found they found themselves convicted and ultimately transported aboard the Rajah.

I really enjoyed this novel and like all the best historical novels make you do, I went and googled all about the Rajah voyage afterwards as well! Highly recommended if you enjoy well crafted historical fiction.

'Dangerous Women' by Hope Adam's is an example of how to do historical fiction well.

Adam's has used the bones of a real voyage of convict women from the UK to Tasmania, but has added the jeopardy of a locked room murder mystery. Within this, she is able to explore the place of women in society at that time, and the work done by pioneers to try to rehabilitate criminals and understand their crimes.

I really enjoyed the novel and was drawn in throughout. Occasional whiffs of romance/schmaltz were tempered by the gritty reality of the women's lives and their expectations of romantic relationships. I ended up as interested in the resolution of the murder mystery, as I was in the women's lives on ship and their back stories. Adam's captured all, really well.

A convict ship heading for Van Diemen's Land is the setting for this atmospheric page turner which has as its focus the mystery surrounding a brutal attack on one of the convicts on board the Rajah. This group of 180 women, and 10 children, from all walks of life, are thrown together in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a prison ship. Some are being transported for minor misdemeanors, whilst others have been found guilty of more serious crimes, however, none of them are alleged to be murderers.

Kezia Heyter is the young woman who has been appointed Matron, and as such is in charge of the welfare of this bunch of miscreants. Kezia's idea of encouraging the woman to learn a new skill is the focus for a good part of the story as she chooses a group of some eighteen women with a modicum of needle working skill to help her make patchwork quilt. This mishmash group of women are also the focus when a brutal attack leaves one of the women fighting for her life.

There's a lot of moving about in time but it's interesting to get the stories about some of the convicts and the reasons why they find themselves being transported to the other side of the world. There's a definite divide between the prisoners, the sailors and those who are 'in charge', with the convicts coming pretty low in the pecking order. Kezia Heyter falls between the two as she is in close contact with the women and gets to know their personalities and cares about their well being, but she is also invited to dine with Charles Ferguson, the ship's captain, the ship's doctor, James Donovan and the Reverend Roland Davies, a clergyman who is returning to his congregation. I think what comes across is the latent volatility of the women, their petty squabbles and the indifference which threatens to boil over and when the attack on one of the convicts happens, it truly could be any one of them who has spilled over into violence.

Mixing together both fact and fiction, a fascinating story starts to emerge. The claustrophobic atmosphere on board the cramped and crowded ship is captured well and throughout the story there is a real sense of ennui as the convicts struggle with the boredom of days, and days, of endless sea. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, Dangerous Women is based on the true story of the Rajah's voyage to Van Diemen's Land in 1841. The group of women convicts did make a beautiful quilt as a testament to their hope and persistence which was presented by Kezia Hayter to Jane Franklin, the Governor's wife. It is now held by the National Gallery of Australia.

What a fabulous title Dangerous Women is, and in this case it refers to the female convicts being transported to Van Diemen’s Island, Australia, on the ship the Rajah in 1841. On the voyage one of the women is murdered, putting all under suspicion. As the women start to distrust each other, and fear builds of a murderer in their mists, they question which one of them could kill another, and why, not one of them has been convicted of murder. A claustrophobic and intriguing thriller based on a true story, this is utterly compelling reading.

My regular readers know that historical fiction is my favourite genre especially when based on a true story; I love learning something new. The other draw to this book was learning that the author Hope Adams also wrote books under the name Adèle Geras, many of which I have loved and enjoyed. Dangerous Women is narrated by two of the women on the Rajah, Kezia Hayter and Clara Shaw, with the plot split between the events leading up to the attack on Hattie, one of the convicts, and the aftermath and inquiry. Kezia is a complex and intriguing character as she has chosen to join the voyage to Van Diemen’s Island, leave her family and life in London behind her. In London Kezia was part of a committee whose aim was to improve the conditions and welfare of female prisoners, and it is this work that took her on the ship in the role of matron to the convicts on board. As matron she is there to look after the women, make sure they are safe and become a sort of friend who they come to if they have any problems. She is also there for moral guidance and uses sewing and knitting as a way of keeping the women occupied on the long journey. She also has her own project, to sew a quilt, known as the Rajah Quilt, now on display in the National Gallery of Australia, given as a gift to those in charge on arriva. Kezia was the only woman of any standing on the ship, a place of men, but her strenght of character shone through as she didn’t let the men dominate her. Whilst the captain and surgeon treat her with respect, the Reverend Davis, is dismissive of her opinions especially in the inquiry into the attack on Hattie. What I loved most about was her caring nature, at odds with her childhood relationship with her mother, her intelligence and her self confidence in who she was, and how she chose to live her life.

The other narrator, Clara Shaw, is a woman accused of murder who steals another prisoners identity to get in the ship and avoid the hangman’s noose. We are not told the identity she assumes, and I admit I spent a large part of the book trying to work out who she was. I kept flicking back as characters met in groups, and she watched on, cross checking to see if there were any clues, and no I never worked it out. Details of her life and shocking crimes are drip fed throughout, and whilst she has committed some horrible crimes, she is like the other women, a victim of circumstance and just trying to help those in need, and make a living.

Hope Adams has obviously done a lot of research which shines through in her writing and characters. She really captures the complex nature of life aboard the Rajah, the different relationships, between the women, the ship’s officers and crew, the women and Kezia and Kezia and those in charge of the Rajah. Friendships, romance, and difficulties are rife among all in ship. One of the fascinating aspects were the women themselves, all arrested for minor crimes, such as stealing or receiving stolen items yet sent across the sea, to an unknown land, hot and exotic, and a place many will not return from. I felt is was such a harsh punishment considering the crimes committed. Many of these women were victims of circumstance, only trying to feed and clothe their children, others used by the men in their lives. I can’t imagine how frightening it must have been to be put on a ship and taken to some unknown land. Hope Adams also captures life on board, the claustrophobic living conditions, the smell of being in the cabins with little light and the everyday challenges faced.

Dangerous Women is an amazing read, full of fascinating historical detail and colourful characters. Plotted perfectly, with plenty of red herrings as to who Clara might be and as to why Hattie was attacked and by whom, it held my attention from start to finish. My only complaint is that it came to an end, I really wanted to see how the women felt when they arrived on Van Diemen’s Island, and how and if they survived. I highly recommend this stunning read, and I hope Hope Adams writes some more historical fiction. A fabulous read!!

This was a unique story for me, and one I struggled in sorts to get into, had some wonderful characters and backstories though and once I got into it I was away, very good book and one to read for sure, I’m used to just diving in and racing through and this one wasn’t like that, I took my time with it and savoured it and loved every minute, great book and one to look out for. Fantastic 4 stars ⭐️

The locked-room murder mystery that she’s neatly stitched it into is entirely her own creation but the inspiration behind Hope Adams’ novel Dangerous Women is the Rajah quilt, an actual quilt made by convicts on their 1841 voyage of transportation from London to Van Diemen’s Land. (What we now know as Tasmania, Australia’s island state, following a name change in 1856.) The gorgeous finished hardback includes a reproduction of the Rajah quilt on its endpapers, which I kept flicking to, trying to identify the square mentioned in each chapter heading. (Clearly, you don’t have to do this unless, like me, you’re also a total book nerd.)

I am easily lured in by any book cover with the sea or a ship on it. When I saw early proofs going out, I wasn’t only hooked by the cover but its tagline: On a ship packed with the guilty, how do you prove your innocence? Dangerous Women sailed onto my 2021 TBR and, as soon as I started reading it, quickly reeled me in.

Almost two hundred women sailed on the Rajah, which, along with the ship’s crew, would make an unmanageable cast of characters. Hope Adams instead wisely chooses to focus her story on a young woman called Clara, who makes the Rajah her unlikely choice of escape route; the ship’s Captain, Charles Ferguson, and her Surgeon, Mr Donovan, together with the Reverend Mr Davies; the Newgate Nannies, a seasoned trio of cons, the young Matron, Kezia Hayter, and the eighteen women she selects to work together on the quilt.

It’s through this microcosm that Hope Adams shares the hopes and fears, preoccupations, jealousies, and concerns, loves and losses of all those aboard the Rajah and gave me a very real sense of how bewildering it must have felt for these women, most of whom were convicted of petty crimes and taken straight from prison with no chance of saying goodbye to friends and family, before being put on a boat, which rowed them out to a bigger boat bound for the other side of the world. There’s a stark contrast between their mandatory sentences and Kezia’s own, more voluntary voyage of discovery. They’re all making an arduous journey to the other side of the world but it’s one where these women have no idea what awaits them. It must have been especially terrifying when their crimes were so often petty ones, fuelled by hunger, poverty and desperation, or brought about by the violent, drunk or simply all too often absent men in their lives.

It’s interesting to see how the women (including the young Matron) are treated and perceived by the ship’s crew and officers and how often this contrasts with Kezia’s own attitude towards them, where she attempts to see beyond the crime and get to know each woman as an individual with her own backstory and specific concerns. What’s even more fascinating are the relationships between the women themselves, the way they cope with life on board ship, their interactions with each other and members of the crew, how they naturally hive off into smaller groups and how these are put under strain and tested, how they view the quilting task they’ve been chosen for, as well as Kezia herself, the person who’s selected them for it and oversees it.

She may be young and naive but I quickly warmed to Kezia Hayter, largely thanks to her inner dialogue, as she tries to approach her task by being fair and kind but firm with everyone while also standing up for herself. It was wonderful to see how her character develops under extremely trying circumstances over the course of the book. What are already confined and difficult living conditions is further exacerbated by the attack upon one of the women on board ship. This tests the women’s fledging friendships, their nerves and characters, and none more so here than Kezia’s when she takes a place on the committee set up to question the women and try and discover the perpetrator.

Dangerous Women provides a fascinating look at life on board a transport ship bound for Australia in 1841. It’s also a compelling crime story, having to be solved by the time they dock in Hobart, which has at its heart a young woman, who not only has to make her voice heard but also those of the women under her care, amid all the fear, suspicion, intrigue and even romance found in life aboard this convict ship. Dangerous Women is equal parts historical novel and locked-room murder mystery with a dash of romance on a sea-faring voyage, which sets out from Victorian England. A story as captivating and intricately stitched together as the exquisite quilt which inspired it.

Set on board the Rajah, which set sail from London in April 1841, Dangerous Women is inspired by a true story of a quilt, sewn by some of the women on board the ship and involves a (fictional) stabbing. The ship took 180 women, who were convicted of various crimes, from London to Austria – it was a transport ship – all but one of the women were convicts.

The Plot

Written by Hope Adams, Dangerous Women is told from the perspective of three women: Kezia, Clara and Hattie. Kezia, the “matron” aboard the ship is there to care for the women aboard, she is a young and kind woman who falls for the strong and gentlemanly captain. Hattie is the victim, the woman who is stabbed. She is aboard with her son, Bertie. Clara, who poses as another woman called Sarah, isn’t meant to be on the ship and tricked her way on to avoid the gallows – but is she really capable of stabbing another woman?

The story flits between “Then” times before the stabbing, and “Now” July 1831, the month of the crime. Through the varied voices you hear about the women’s crimes and lives before the ship and you get to know the 18 women who are sewing the quilt. One of the women is guilty of stabbing Hattie – but who?

There is also an element of mystery – who stabbed Hattie and will they be caught before the ship reaches Australia? And lets not forget the romance between Kezia and the Captain and can Clara hide her true identity for the duration?

The History

The history is fascinating. The Rajah is an actual ship which actually transported 180 women (and a crew, along with Kezia who was a volunteer, not a convict) to Australia. Adams has changed most of the names, partly to protect people’s ancestors, some of whom will still be alive in Australia today.

The story of the quilt is also true (see left) it was made by 20 (not 18) women on board for the British Ladies Society for promoting the reformation of female prisoners convict ship sub-committee and presented to Jane Franklin when they landed. It was then sent back to the UK to live with Elizabeth Fry. We are unsure of where it was after that, but it re-emerged in 1989 and is now in the National Gallery of Australia. During the 25 years that Fry was involved with the organisation, 12,000 women were transported on 106 ships.

The stabbing is fictional. Adams says that even though a woman did die aboard it isn’t clear how, but it is a great plot device, nonetheless.

One sweet aspect is that the love story between Kezia and the Captain is said to be real too.

My Thoughts
The perfect time to read Dangerous Women is when you want to be fully immersed in a book that you don’t want to put down. This is partly because it’s a very readable novel, written with emotion and excellently researched. It’s also partly because, with the three voices, you do have to remember where (and when) you are and who is speaking. Personally, I love multiple narrators (the more the better!) but you can’t really put a book like that down half way through a chapter.

The characters really drive the book. It was great hearing the “flashbacks” to their lives and their crimes, as well as Kezia’s life as a free woman. There are a lot of characters, as 18 were working on the quilt, and all of them are suspects in the stabbing, so I did find some of them blended together, but not so much that it put me off, a lot of them had distinct aspects too.

I have to say, I’m not a big fan of whodunnits, in fact, I haven’t found one that has made me go “ohhh” yet. However, the point here really isn’t the stabbing, it’s about redemption, innocence and guilt. At what point do you grant freedom and to who? There is conversation about poverty and how that effects who commits crime and the lengths people go to to survive – true then and true now.

I think you’d really enjoy this novel if you are interested in British or Australian history, as well as the history of the prison system and feminism. I would also totally recommend this as a book club book, it’s a quick read but it’s emotional and has a lot of depth.

4 / 5 stars from me.

What a wonderful mix of historical fiction, crime, travel and even some romance.
This is a fictional story but based on a true story - I would probably label it as faction - fiction based partly on fact.
The writing by the author is very good and she makes you feel at home on a ship full of convicts that are being sent to Australia for petty crimes they have committed.
It is a book I would recommend to you to read. There are quite a lot of characters but you get to know then throughout the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Michael Joseph and the author, Hope Adams, for providing me with an advanced review copy of the book in digital format.
The book was released on 4th March.
#DangerousWomen #NetGalley

The Rajah is sailing the seven seas, embarking on its three-month voyage across the globe, carrying the most dangerous of cargo - a ship full of female convicts, all convicted of petty crimes. Someone on the ship is more than a petty criminal and will kill to keep the secrets they hold and gain their freedom. Left to defend their lives, the ladies of the Rajah band together to find the killer, each one facing their own fears of being killed while attempting to prove their innocence when everyone has already been found capable of committing a crime. I enjoyed the pace of this book, the constant switching between timelines and narrators kept the face fresh. I enjoyed using my own means of deduction to solve the mystery. I don't often read historical fiction as it can be quite hard to follow, however, Hope Adams kept the narrative clear and concise which I really enjoyed.

Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

This book had so much potential! It is based on real life events: 1841 and the convict ship Rajah leaves London for Van Diemen’s Land (present day Tasmania) with 180 women onboard forced to prepare for a new life on the other side of the world. Kezia Hayter is employed as Matron to be a chaperone for the women on the voyage. As a means of keeping busy on the long voyage and as a gift to the sovereigns on their arrival, Kezia worked with the women to create a patchwork, which is still on display in the Victorian museum. During the voyage there was a death! Adams was able to use the genuine captain and doctor’s logs from the real voyage and use this as a factual framework for her fictional voyage. In reality, the death was almost certainly due to ill health, but in Adams version it is a murder!

For me, this had the beginnings of an amazing book! It sounded very much along the lines of The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes. However, there were a few things that I did not find very enjoyable about the book.

In the Victorian period the Christian Women’s Union engaged often with female prisoners who had been convicted of minor crimes (e.g. theft) and a huge number of women were transported from English jails over to Australia and the surrounding areas. The book doesn’t clearly identify Kezia as a member of the Christian Women’s Union, but she very much shares the attitude of those women at that time. Kezia’s attitude to the women is beyond classist. They are totally infantilised by her. Adams tries to write in a kind of dialect of Working Class Victorian London, but it reads as incredibly pantomime. Kezia approaches the crimes that the women have committed as heinous, despite the context of these women living in poverty. One woman reveals that she has killed a man in self-defence after he raped and then attempted to kill her. Again, Kezia encourages this woman to repent for her terrible act of violence. Clearly murder is a very complex ethical issue, but there is no nuance to Kezia’s understanding of the woman’s story. I understand that the author may have been intending to reflect the likely real life views of Kezia the person, given her historical context, but I’m not sure what is achieved in our contemporary context then by having her as the central character. Very little time is given to exploring the inner lives of the other women – they are largely reduced to crones.

I also felt like the courtship between Kezia and another character, while again potentially factual, was a really good example of the ‘right kind’ of woman (in this context white and upper class) being rewarded for following the guidelines of the patriarchy. Again, while this depiction may have been true to life I didn’t understand the purpose of just reproducing it without giving Kezia or any of the other women a space to portray more than just this very rigid stereotyped versions of women in Victorian London.

Having said that, it was a very easy book to read and I didn’t feel like I wanted to stop reading it. The premise was so interesting, and from the Afterword I could see that Adams had done so much research to inform her book, but I felt that it had some integral flaws that prevented it from being a great piece of work. Thank you to NetGalley for my free e-copy.

I was so sorry to finish this book as it became my treat at the end of each day. It wasn't until I got to the end that I realised that it had been based on an actual journey, transporting female convicts to Australia.. Obviously, the event of a murder and its circumstances were fictional accounts but the Rajah ship itself and the quilt itself were authentic. The story is well crafted and told from the perspective of Kezia, the ships matron who is tasked with choosing and supervising the women who will sew the Quilt each day of the voyage. It is also told from the perspective Clara, a convict who was also a member of the sewing group. The pace of the book is kept up as we try to guess who was the assailant. One can empathise with the characters, be horrified at the pettiness of crimes that brought about transportation, and imagine the constancy of of more than 100 days spent at see. A great read.

A fictional account of a real life voyage of female convicts who were transported from London to Australia in 1841. Mostly onboard the Rajah due to petty crimes such as theft, the women are having to leave their families for many years, some will never see them again. Kezia is in charge of the women for the voyage and she sets up a sewing circle for eighteen of them.. One of the number, Hattie, receives a mysterious message warning her to keep her silence about something but Hattie is not sure what she is supposed to know about one of the others, but before she can work it out, she is stabbed and left for dead. Kezia now has to work with the Captain of the ship, the ship's doctor, and the resident clergyman to find the guilty person before they reach their destination.

This has all the elements of a great read for me: historically based, a strong cast of characters, and a murder mystery upon a ship, and yet something was missing. I'm a fairly fast reader but it took me almost six days to read the book which suggests the narrative didn't hold my attention as well as it should.

The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Kezia and Clara (who has stolen her identity from another unfortunate convict), and I did like the character of Kezia and her shy romance with the Captain was a welcome distraction from the unrelenting grimness of the rest of the story. It was okay but it didn't wow me.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Loved that this story in based in fact.
The voyage aboard the Rajah is well described, almost feel the roll of the ship, the smell of the vomit and worse. The murder that occurs adds to the tension on the ship.
Keizai agrees to take charge of a group of prisoners destined for Australia with the aim of making a colourful quilt during the voyage. She picks the women who will help her, women with previous sewing experience, the 18 chosen gradually form a bond, with petty thieves and a murderer rubbing shoulders. I made notes on the women to help keep track of their crimes and personalities.
Keizai interacts with the Captain, Doctor and Vicar, she is frustrated by their lack of respect for her views and makes her feelings known to the Captain with surprising results.
The identity of the Murderer is tantalising and not revealed till the end of the story.
Thanks Hope and NetGalley.