The Exiles: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

Kindle edition

Another historical fiction here and another Real Simple recommendation.

Real Simple magazine had this to say:

"In the 18th and 19th centuries, British convicts were shipped to Australia, and 25,000 of them were women. Christina Baker Kline's The Exiles imagines the stories of two of them, along with that of an orphaned Aboriginal girl. Celebrating the bonds between women, the novel explores how loves that seem destined for pain might persevere." 

I started this on June 1 and finished it on June 5.

So, generally I really love historical fiction. I have a BA and MA in American History so already love historical stuff (a really technical term, right?). I love the stories of people, learning about experiences people had, seeing all kinds of influences and impacts and results of things. It's fascinating to me. I started college as an art major but couldn't get any art classes my first semester at San Francisco State University as a transfer student from a Community College in Southern California. There were a set of 3 classes I had to take at SF State so I got those out of the way in my first semester there - Geology of California (science), California Cultures (humanities), and History of California (history, duh) with a fabulous professor - Gordon Seely. I'm a native Californian and I learned and discovered so much about our history that I had no idea about. I was hooked. Changed my major and never looked back. So yeah, I like history. I like good history books. History books that are accessible and understandable by everyone. I detest history books that aren't accessible. That you need a translator to help you understand. Ones that are written for those elitist people who want to keep the everyperson out of their genre. Sadly, the book by Ron Chernow "Hamilton" is one of those books. I've been trying to read it for so many years and I just can't. No. Sentences that take a whole page - no. Sentences full of words that no one knows - no. Just write it, just say it, you don't need to make it fancy and unintelligible.

Ok, I'll get off my high horse. I really like historical fiction.

This book started a little slow and then it sucked me in. Many times as I was reading I was shaking my head in disbelief at how human beings were treated. How women were treated. I remember thinking, "where is the humanity?" The conditions seemed deplorable for the incarcerated women. Granted, this is fiction. But it is based in history.

We meet one woman who comes to be jailed for something she literally didn't do. No one would believe her. No one would question the man who gave her the thing that she was accused of stealing. He gave her something else too... Something that would take 9 months to come to fruition. Off to jail she went. Then shipped off to Australia she was. The crossing was also deplorable and the women were subjected to violence from the crew of the ship. Friendships between the female prisoners were forged on the voyage as well, and those are the basis for the rest of the story. There were pockets of humanity in the people that came in and out of the female prisoners lives. 

This book gave the characters depth, believability, and humanity. You could feel their struggle, their pain, their fights for survival. And you could see their successes, their trials and tribulations, their growth, and their value as humans.

I really liked this book. It's different. But I liked it.

Post written on June 30, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.