The Exiles

A Novel

De: Christina Baker Kline

Narrado por: Caroline Lee

Duración: 10 h y 44 m

Resumen del Editor

An instant New York Times best seller

Optioned for television by Bruna Papandrea, the producer of HBO's Big Little Lies

"A tour de force of original thought, imagination and promise.... Kline takes full advantage of fiction - its freedom to create compelling characters who fully illuminate monumental events to make history accessible and forever etched in our minds." (Houston Chronicle)

The author of the number-one New York Times best seller Orphan Train returns with an ambitious, emotionally resonant novel about three women whose lives are bound together in 19th-century Australia and the hardships they weather together as they fight for redemption and freedom in a new society.

Seduced by her employer’s son, Evangeline, a naïve young governess in early 19th-century London, is discharged when her pregnancy is discovered and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. After months in the fetid, overcrowded jail, she learns she is sentenced to "the land beyond the seas", Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in Australia. Though uncertain of what awaits, Evangeline knows one thing: The child she carries will be born on the months-long voyage to this distant land.

During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, a girl little older than her former pupils who was sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Canny where Evangeline is guileless, Hazel - a skilled midwife and herbalist - is soon offering home remedies to both prisoners and sailors in return for a variety of favors.

Though Australia has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, the British government in the 1840s considers its fledgling colony uninhabited and unsettled and views the natives as an unpleasant nuisance. By the time the Medea arrives, many of them have been forcibly relocated, their land seized by White colonists. One of these relocated people is Mathinna, the orphaned daughter of the chief of the Lowreenne tribe, who has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land.

In this gorgeous novel, Christina Baker Kline brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society in a beautiful and challenging land, telling the story of Australia from a fresh perspective, through the experiences of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna. While life in Australia is punishing and often brutally unfair, it is also, for some, an opportunity: for redemption, for a new way of life, for unimagined freedom. Told in exquisite detail and incisive prose, The Exiles is a story of grace born from hardship, the unbreakable bonds of female friendships, and the unfettering of legacy.

©2020 Christina Baker Kline (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Exceptional

Exceptional story telling based on historical events. A very good read/listen. If you like Christina Baker Kline you will enjoy this book.

Excellent!

I really enjoyed this book, it’s characters, and the storyline. Women had absolutely no rights and were treated deplorably. Thank heavens much has changed; however, many women continue to be horribly abused throughout our country as well as the 3rd world countries. Until this is remedied, women will not be safe, or equaled to men!

Great book!!

Loved listening to this story. Well developed characters gave it a lot of depth. Sorry when it was over 😞

wonderful book

this book was wonderful but how emotional it is. it is definitely worth reading. it will leave you thinking about it for awhile.

Must Read

The character development. The beauty. The pain. This book is brilliant. You must read it.

good listening, good performance, average story

The book was worth the listen because of the performers. The story though felt poorly stitched together. It started with one character, jumped to a second character mid book, and ended with a third character that was scaresly developed. While each had a connection to the next, it felt as though I had read three different books.

Filling in history

I am a history buff. I like the historical aspect of this book as well as personalizing each women’s story. Also, showing how strong and resilient these women were.

Australian convicts

Vivid descriptions of the horrible privations and abuse of female convicts in England and Australia during the period of Australia’s role as a convict colony. Good narration and interesting, sympathetic characters.

Sad Tale of Female Vunerability

The first 75% of the story was so heartbreaking and cruel I wanted to quit.

Fascinating but should have been 2 books

Audible version with terrific narrator. I've always wondered what it was like people, especially for women who got transported from England as criminals to Australia.

There are two major storylines. Matthina is based on a true story of an aboriginal girl taken rather as a pet by an English couple residing in Australia. The other story is about women accused of crimes and sent by ship to Australia.

I knew from the minute that Matthina's story began that she deserves her own book. I think two stories should have been 2 separate books. I wanted MORE of each.

The book has some predictable parts and the characters are not clearly drawn but the story is so fascinating that I was always anxious to get back to it. I suspect the author did a good bit of research for this book so I hope that it is historically accurate.

Outstanding narration by Caroline Lee