Dangerous Women is the beautiful and heartbreaking story of 180 women convicted of petty crimes and sentenced to board The Rajah and live out the rest of their lives in Australia, never seeing their families again. On board all they have is each other, until a stabbing occurs and suspicions arise. Who is guilty and if they aren’t found, will they all survive?

This was such an incredible read, absolutely packed with atmosphere and beautiful writing. I completely fell in love with this story and the harrowing plight of the women on board. The story is based on an actual voyage and I ended up looking up the voyage online because the story was so fascinating. I loved every second of this book and I am definitely going to be picking up more books by Hope Adams in the future.

This is a truly thought provoking read, and follows multiple characters both on the ship and prior to them being convicted. It was really interesting to learn about their lives and what crime they were convicted of. Adams has created really incredible characters and each story was full of detail. The story is also a murder mystery, as they attempt to uncover who was behind the stabbing. It was a compelling read, and one I found myself thinking about even when I wasn’t reading.

Dangerous Women is quite a heart breaking read, but one that is incredibly well executed. I loved the characters and the amount of detail Adams put into the story. It felt really well researched and I enjoyed every second of it. This is a truly captivating story and historical fiction fans are going to absolutely adore this one.

Dangerous Women is a fascinating story that blends a wonderful fictional story based on real historical events. In 1841 the Rajah convict ship set sail from London, UK to Tasmania, Australia, or as it was known back then, Van Diemen’s Land with 180 convicted criminal women onboard.

Whilst on their 105-day long journey some of the women began a sewing group and made a quilt, known as The Rajah Quilt which can be viewed online as it is still on show at The National Gallery of Australia.

Author Hope Adams has blended this real-life story and created a murder mystery in which one of the women shouldn’t have been there as she took the place of another passenger and another of the women, young Hattie, is murdered just over half-way through their journey, stabbed to death, leaving a young son behind.

The book is engrossing as no-one knows who the murderer is and an investigation is set up to try to find them, but everyone starts to suspect one another and new friendships become strained. As well as the mystery I loved the factual aspect of the Rajah, a ship I’d never heard of before. I knew about convicts being sent to Australia but nothing more.

The story began quite slowly and at the beginning, I had to make myself stick with it as I knew that the story would pick up. It is also written in two close-together timelines, ‘Then’ and ‘Now’. Both time periods give you the date, with the ‘Now’ also telling you how many days at sea the ship has been sailing. Plus we get to hear from the different women on the ship, including the Matron, the only female not a convict on board, Kazia Hayter, based on a real person of the same name.

The women and their stories all felt so real, so did their sorrow at leaving loved ones behind, knowing that for some of them they would never see their families again as there was no coming back from Australia. It is a remarkable book that once I had gotten through the first few chapters and worked out who each woman was I became engrossed and mesmerised by each of their stories as well as a need to know why Hattie had been murdered and would there be more killings.

A weaving together of historical fact and fiction. The Rajah Quilt holds the story together as we meet women transported to Van Diemen's Land, and unpick a murder on the way. A book of hopes, fears, the unknown, the promise of leaving it all behind makes this a fascinating read. The back and forth timeline adds interest and rhythm to the story. I love the women' voice that comes through the author and the telling of womens' stories. The research into real events is evident and gives the novel gravitas.

It is 1841 and 180 women who have been convicted of petty crimes board the Rajah, a ship destined to transport them on the long voyage to Australia. When, days into the journey, one woman is viciously stabbed it is down to the matron, the captain and the ship’s pastor to try and discover which of the other passengers is not what she seems.

Though all of the women are “criminals”, most have been convicted of nothing more than pickpocketing, certainly not of violent crimes. The prime suspects are those who were on deck at the time of the assault, as part of the team sewing an enormous patchwork coverlet, and it seems that none of them saw the incident take place. But surely at least one of them isn’t telling the whole truth…

I love a locked door mystery and the setting of Dangerous Women by Hope Adams really intrigued me. The fact that the novel was based on a real voyage I thought was fascinating and kind of heartbreaking; talk about a harsh punishment for stealing the odd loaf of bread!

The slow burn narrative pulled me in fully towards the middle of the book, the teasing part-revelations coming thick and fast so I felt like I needed to know what was going to happen. I really enjoyed some of the humorous dialogue between the women as they sat at their work; there are some extremely feisty and colourful characters among them to say the least!

An atmospheric and unique historical murder mystery, I really enjoyed it!

How I love a historical fiction yarn, especially one with a corker of a title, and if it is based on real people and events, all the better - and this one has all the bases covered!

The Rajah sets sail from London in 1841, with 180 women guilty of petty crimes on-board, who are being transported to Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania). As part of an initiative introduced by prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, some of these women are selected by the matron, Miss Kezia Haytor, to take part in a sewing project intended to help them develop their skills in needlework, and aid them in their new start on the other side of the world. Eighteen women join together to make a quilt that will be presented to the Lord and Lady Governor of Van Diemen's Land on their arrival, and Kezia has high hopes that her little band of seamstresses will be well on their way to reform by the time their project is complete.

As the voyage gets underway, Kezia is happy with the progress being made and feels she is really starting to get to know the women in her care. She has developed a close relationship with the ship's captain, Charles Ferguson, which promises to become more, and friendship with the capable ship's doctor, Doctor James Donovan - although she is struggling to find common ground with the boorish Reverend Roland Davies.

When one of her charges is mortally wounded by an unknown attacker, the atmosphere aboard the Rajah becomes tense and menacing. Everyone starts jumping at shadows, and the women convicts are worried that one of them will be blamed for the assault. The search for the dangerous culprit begins in earnest, and the investigation lays bare the trauma these women have suffered in their lives, and the reasons they find themselves on the way to Van Diemen's Land.

The story is told in two timelines which move back and forth between Then, when the voyage began, and Now, following the attack, and also moves between the narratives of Matron Kezia, the victim, and the mysterious Clara who has swapped places with another woman who was destined to travel on the Rajah, in order to escape from the hangman's noose - intriguingly, we do not know which of the women Clara is masquerading as until near the end of the story, which brings in a delicious element of 'guess who' which I found very entertaining.

As the story unfolds, we learn bits and pieces of the lives of our unfortunate women, and the circumstances that have brought them to where they are now. Their stories are those or daughters, sisters and mothers the world over, and are often sad and traumatic - it is also true that their current predicament has by and large been forced upon them by simply being women in a man's world.

Although Kezia is more fortunate than her charges, she has her own sad story of loss, suffering and powerlessness that has brought her on-board the Rajah, and as the investigation progresses, we get a look at how middle class woman are also treated in the nineteenth century. Both Captain Ferguson and Doctor Donovan seem to view her as someone who needs protecting (sometimes from herself), and Reverend Davies often treats her with outright contempt - but Kezia refuses to be bowed by them all.

I loved the way Hope Adams tells this tale of murder on the high seas, with the feel of a locked room Agatha Christie mystery and the richness of a Victorian drama. Everything is perfectly paced, with just the right amount of historical detail, romance, tension and menace, and Adams succeeds to throw just enough misdirection your way throughout to make the ending the cleverest of surprises. The little snippets of wonderful descriptive writing about the Rajah herself at the heading of some of the chapters serve to bring her alive as an additional character - and I also loved the descriptions of pieces of fabric included in the quilt, which are somehow very touching.

But, for me, the best part of this tale is the way the relationships develop between Kezia and her band of needlewomen. In coming together to make the quilt they also find friendship, strength, support and hope for the future, and the quilt itself becomes an emblem for what they have achieved on their journey - imbued as it is with their hard work and emotion. It's brilliant!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Based on a real-life voyage, Dangerous Women takes place on The Rajah as it sets sail from London to Australia in 1841. Onboard are 180 women, convicted of petty crimes, and now being sent to the other side of the world to start a new life. They will never see their family and homes again. They have each other and friendships start to emerge, but then a murder takes place and everyone on board is a suspect.

This was an enjoyable book, with some likeable characters who you start to warm to. It's a mixture of historical fiction and murder mystery as you are led down multiple paths looking for the murderer.

The novel is well-written; however, I did find it slow-going at times with lots of scene-setting, and some of the female voices I struggled to hear, maybe because there were so many characters being focused on. I found so many characters confusing, and they all started to blend into one another.

From reading the blurb, I did feel this book would be more of a nitty-gritty crime thriller, but it was quite slow-going for me.

A well researched story about women prisoners who were transported to Australia for their crimes. A part of English history that we would like to forget. We hear more about the men who were transported so this was a refreshing change. An interesting tale.

This is a well written historical fiction book, based around the true events of nearly two hundred convicted women who were sentenced to travel to Australia, aboard the 'Rajah'. Whilst names have and parts of the story been fictionalised for the book, there are many elements which are based around true events recorded of the time, which makes this a cleverly researched and well written book by the author, Hope Adams. One of the true aspects of the novel being that the women spent their days on the ship sewing a patchwork quilt, which parts of the pattern is described at the beginning of each chapter. The novel is told by the viewpoint of various characters, so that we are able to understand many of the women's different stories and events that caused them to turn to crime and be convicted, which helps you to understand certain conditions people were living in and were subjected to in England at this time. The main event that occurs quite early on in the story is a severe knife attack on one of the women, Hattie, and so causes a great deal of unrest between the women on board, creating anxiety amongst them of who has committed such a crime, and also who might be next? So Keiza Hayter, who has been put in charge of the women during their voyage, helps the Captain of the ship, alongside the ship's Doctor and Priest to investigate and interview the women in the hope of finding out who has committed such a deed. The dialogue was realistic and helped you to get to know the characters as well as reflected certain opinions some men held of women at this time. The descriptions in the book also gave you a real sense of how dark and unclean the conditions in which the women travelled were. It was interesting also to read of the quilt that Kezia Hayter has a selection of the women make during the voyage, with the real one made at the time now displayed in an Art Gallery in Canberra - if I ever find myself in that part of the world I would be sure to go and see this for myself - so fascinating to know such a thing was created during such a journey and under difficult conditions. Whilst I enjoyed reading this book and finding out about how women were transported as criminals across the world at this time, I think the book could've been slightly pacier with events, with some parts of dialogue seemingly drawn out, and so I occasionally found myself wanting the narrative to move on a little quicker to find out what was to happen. If you are interested in historical fiction written about this period of time and of the history of convicts being sent to Australia, with a good 'whodunnit' thrown in, then I would recommend this book. My thanks go out to netgalley and Michael Joseph books for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this.

I do love a historical murder mystery and this is the second book I've read with a murder mystery set on a ship in the middle of an ocean. I love the claustrophobic atmosphere this type of setting gives a story.
I was happy that the story was written in an empathetic way about the prisoners being transported, it shows how most of them were where they were due to their circumstances in life and how the sexism of the society figured into that. All the characters that you read about are very human and sympathetic in some way. I was happy that Kezia was truly there to help the prisoners and to care for their well being and her relationship with the captain was very sweet and respectful.
I liked that we had a pov of an unknown prisoner, I spent a lot of the first half trying to figure out who it was, which was fun. I would have liked to have figured it out myself (I'm sure smarter readers than me will) but I can see why it is revealed when it was.
The mixture of real historical figures and fictional characters was interesting and it's intrigued me enough to go do some more research later.
Overall this was very well done and I recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction especially with a focus on women of the time.

The Rajah is setting sail for what is now Tasmania, transporting women from prisons to finish their punishment in another country. Along the way a woman is murdered but no one seemed to see anything. Can the captain and the matron figure out the truth before they come to port.

This was a really interesting read. The murder is cleverly done and leads you along more than one path though I did eventually figure out who was behind it. The plot is quite slow and it took me a while to get into it. The ending is well done and finished the book off perfectly. I liked the conclusion but would have been nice to learn what happened to them after they got off the ship. I did like the hint of romance between the Captain and Kezia. The characters are fascinating and you start to warm to them despite knowing they were often guilty of a crime.
An interesting historical mystery.

The central artefact of this novel, the Rajah Quilt, is still in existence and can be viewed on Google. This brought the story to life for me and I was fascinated from the start. The lives of the women on the ship, being transported across the world to a penal colony, were vividly depicted. The other characters, the crew, doctor, chaplain and especially the accompanying matron were equally well described.

The whole mystery of the narrative was well developed and the story moved to explore the past lives of the women as well as the current events of life on board. Immensely satisfying as a novel, a view into the sad lives of these women and a positive hope for their futures as they develop their skills and their relationships. In a way I'd love a sequel to follow their lives in their new home and even bring this history to the present day.

A very worthwhile read.

This is a story told with empathy and skill. It is rich in period detail, the closed atmosphere of the ship’s community is both alive and claustrophobic. Each of these women are given a voice and through their perspectives we see the effects of poverty, lack of opportunity and crucially lack of power. From the well educated Kezia Haynes to the every women living below the decks, we see the fight for survival, the fight to have a women’s voice heard and the fight to be valued in their own right.

Alive with strong women characters and a vibrant, well plotted story this is a story to get lost in. It is also a story that will lead you to others. One for the forever shelf.

Headlines:
Suspense on the seas
Desperation
Emotive
Gritty themes

The cover of this book swept me away initally, followed by the synopsis. Reading the book totally lived up to my hopes and expectations. I would categorise this as a historical suspense. Its strengths partially lie in the fact that this story context is reality, the voyage of convicts being transported and occupying themselves by making a quilt. The other strength was the execution, the writing that transported me along with the passengers of the ship.

The story was told from the POV of the ship’s ‘matron’ Kezia, a 23 year old women of respectable background, there to oversee the female convicts on their way to Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania). There were other POVs of some of the prominent convict characters. There was a stabbing some weeks into the journey (this is the the blurb, no spoiler here) and much of the story I spent speculating and getting it wrong.

This was very much a women’s book, about women, for women, understanding women of that era However, these women were ever at the mercy of men and it wasn’t set in a time where women were empowered so I wouldn’t necessarily call this a feminist read. However Kezia did have her moments of assertion among the leading men of the ship.

This was a compelling tale, with twists and turns. Ship life had all the smells, hardship and difficulty you might imagine but the description enhanced your sense of these womens’ existence. I would have loved an epilogue of what happened to these women after they got to their destination. I wanted to know if they really got their new chance.

We’re many small pieces, each of us different but now stitched together. A patchwork of souls.

If you love historical reads and/or if you love suspenseful reads, Dangerous Women will not disappoint. There are triggers in here for some and please check out other reviews or message me if you want details.

Thank you to Michael Joseph Books for the review copy.

A beautifully written historical book based on both true and fictional events. The plot intwines the women stories, while they are abroad the Rajah ship, a murder mystery covers the fictional side of the book which is at times I felt slow paced. The true story of the Rajah quilt was well researched and beautifully written.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams in exchange for an honest review.

In London, 1841 a group of almost two hundred Englishwomen board the Rajah, the ship that will take them on a three-month voyage to the other side of the world. They are being transported for petty crimes to Van Dieman’s Land, now known as Tasmania. Yet one among them is a secret killer, fleeing justice. Then during the voyage a woman is mortally wounded and the hunt is on for the culprit.

Also travelling on board the Rajah is Miss Kazia Hayter, a gentlewoman and prison reformer, who has been employed as Matron to ensure that the women convicts are treated fairly as well as to prepare them for their new lives. To this end she selects eighteen women to create a large patchwork quilt to be presented to Lady Franklin, the governor’s wife, on their arrival.

‘Dangerous Women’ is based on true events as the Rajah, its captain Charles Ferguson, and Kazia Hayter all existed as does the Rajah Quilt. Hope Adams writes in her Historical Note that the voyage was well documented.

I appreciated that she invented the names of the convict women out of respect for their descendants still living in Australia and Tasmania. At the end of the novel Adams provides a bibliography and a list of internet resources for those wishing to explore the legacy of the Rajah.

I found this an atmospheric work of historical fiction that employed the confined setting onboard the Rajah to great effect. The narrative utilised different timelines, designed as ‘now’ and ‘then’ with dates provided at the head of each chapter and moved between various characters’ perspectives.

Overall, a well written moving work of historical fiction that highlighted aspects of early Victorian society linked to prison reform. I admit that I wasn’t as engaged by the mystery aspect of the novel and found myself more drawn to its vivid depiction of the long voyage.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

On a side note the cover art is very striking.

Dangerous Women is the first novel by Hope Adams, the alter ego of writer Adele Geras, and is based on the real life transportation of 200 female criminals from London to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) in 1841 on a ship called The Rajah. Also on board were the captain, Charles Ferguson, and a 23 year old gentlewoman and prison reformer called Kazia Hayter, who was employed as a Matron to take care of the prisoners and start them on their path to improvement. Kazia encouraged a group of the women to join her in making a quilt, a large patchwork coverlet known as the Rajah Quilt (see photo), which now hangs in the National Gallery of Australia.

In this fictional adaptation of the story one of the women, a young mother called Hattie who is travelling with her young son, is murdered. The circumstances of her death, and the ensuing investigation by the captain, ship’s doctor and chaplain, add to the sense of tension and the claustrophobic and squalid conditions which the women endured during their 15 week voyage.

Although Kazia Hayter and the crew members portrayed in the book are real, the women convicts have been given fictional identities, partly out of respect to their descendants but also to enable Hope Adams to create compelling back-stories for them, depicting the grinding poverty and lives of squalor and subservience which led to their (mostly minor) crimes and the harsh punishments they received.

I adored the compelling blend of fascinating historical fact and engrossing fiction in this moving retelling of the story of the women who created the Rajah Quilt. And I’m not alone – some of my favourite authors, including Jane Harris and Lucy Atkins, are also singing the praises of this book (and the UK cover is gorgeous!).

This is a really compelling mystery story that held my interest and intrigue throughout. The plot features an interesting cast of characters and the story is told through the perspectives of a few of the women aboard the ship in alternating chapters. I particularly liked the sections told from the perspective of Kezia, a matron tasked with looking after the women and leading a group of them who are sewing a beautiful coat while on the voyage. As she becomes involved in trying to solve the mystery of who committed the attempted murder, we see her struggle with her conflicting loyalties to the women and her matron role.

I liked how the book alternated between "then" and "now" chapters and thought these two timelines were handled well and felt fitting for the story. Overall I thought this was a really engaging and well written novel and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. .

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the ARC of this book.

‘𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍’

Dangerous Women - Hope Adams

𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏, 1841. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒉, 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔—𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔. 
𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. 
𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆.
𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑼𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒂, 𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.
𝑬𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕? 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅? 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚?

This is a wonderful piece of writing. The story is told across different timelines and from multiple POV’s, slowly we get to learn about the women on the ship - the matron Kezia Hayter, the victim Hattie and the other women in the sewing group who are suspected of her murder. The writing is detailed and you can almost feel the swell of the sea as you read. What these women must have felt being transported from their homes is sad and frightening in equal measure. I liked the characters of Kezia and Joan, the Captain and Donovan. They are the ones that spoke to me the most with kindness and sadness.

‘𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇. 𝑨 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕.’

It felt relatively slow paced but I like that, I like the intricacies, the description, learning about these women’s lives. We are slowly drip fed information to tease out what has happened to Hattie.
Secrets begin to be revealed and the identity of Clara on the boat as someone else is revealed to us the reader but is she involved with Hattie’s demise? Hidden secrets are explained, there is love and loss and past histories raise their heads and bump together.

I really enjoyed this novel, it is quietly moving and gripping and is definitely worth its 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Dangerous Women is a richly-imagined and extensively researched Victorian mystery. The novel opens in London where, in the wake of growing crime rates, the government begins to issue increasingly severe punishments for minor infractions. Thousands of men have already been sent to Australia, but now the government turns its attention to women of marriageable age. These women have no choice, and most will never return to England. Eighteen of the women become quilters on the Rajah convict ship sailing for what is now known as Tasmania in Australia from England in the spring of 1841. The group is among nearly 200 women convicts who are being sent to Van Diemen’s Land to serve out sentences for petty crimes, including Hattie Matthews and her son Bertie, and Clara Shaw, the woman who has taken another’s identity. Among the women are Captain Charles Ferguson, master of the Rajah; a pious but stern clergyman; and the cheery ship’s doctor. The quilt is the project planned by the matron for the voyage, 23-year-old Kezia Hayter, who seeks to teach the women skills they may use to support themselves on their release. It is intended to be presented to Jane Franklin, wife of the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land on arrival. After weeks at sea, peace is broken when a prisoner is mortally stabbed. Trapped in the middle of the ocean, with a killer on board, a fraught investigation ensues. But as the truth behind the convicts’ original crimes comes to light, one question looms large. If everyone on the 'Rajah' is guilty of something, can anyone be trusted?

Part mystery, part inquiry, Dangerous Women is a riveting read, tracking Kezia and the ship’s officers as they interview the seven witnesses to the bludgeoning, with some recalling Hattie being fearful as she had received a warning to keep silent stitched into a square on fabric, and piece together the details surrounding the knife attack that left Hattie bleeding and unconscious on deck and gradually revealing the story that Clara has been hiding. The narrative is also deeply personal in its descriptions of the convict women, their past histories, their adjustments to living onboard a sailing ship, and their connections with one another as they stitch together fabric into a unified whole. Blending the authentic history of HMS Rajah and fictional embellishment in the form of a locked room-esque mystery, I was enrossed throughout. Exploring confinement, hope, and the terrible things we do to survive, this is a stunning debut from Hope Adams. It is a devastating and thought-provoking account of some of the most vulnerable women in history–women failed by society, their family and the law. The more we discover about these women and their lives before imprisonment, the more unputdownable the novel becomes. This is historical crime at its finest and most captivating—tackling modern themes of guilt, innocence and female agency by exploring a remarkable real-life event. It is a deft piece of fiction that interrogates as much as it entertains; an absorbing, visceral read about female anger, subservience and ultimately, strength. Highly recommended.

When I read the description of this book I thought it sounded thrilling and I was looking forward to reading it. However, I found it quite slow and a lot of scene setting rather than getting into the nitty gritty of the story. My attention was caught around about 70% of the way through the book. I did enjoy it but I was not gripped by it.