The Exiles

A Novel

De: Christina Baker Kline

Narrado por: Caroline Lee

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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 #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train returns with an ambitious, emotionally resonant novel about three women whose lives are bound together in nineteenth-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 nineteenth-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.

Someone to catch you

This is a line near the end of the book. It is a thought that resounds throughout the book as you live through the struggles of several women and children during very difficult times. Circumstances of birth and life can certainly lead to some tragic situations that might be overcome if there is someone who reaches out a hand to you to pull you back up. There was a wonderful sense of history, midwifery, perseverance and love that kept me listening to this book deep into the night. I shed several tears at the end for the beauty of it.

Unbelievable Cruelty

England sent many of their convicts to Australia in the 19th Century. In this historical fiction Christina Baker Kline presents the lives of several women that were transported to Australia for minor offenses. It was heartbreaking the ways these women were treated.

Best of the Best

Though perhaps a bit predictable, the story is important and accessible through this novel. The author did a fine job weaving history with the fictional characters.

As always, Caroline Lee was a magnificent narrator.

Tragic, but triumphant!

I love historical fiction, and even tho this story had a lot of tragedy, it was heartening to see how each character overcame their hardships in their own ways.

Well Written & Performed

This book was sad, but a great listen. Lots of twists and turns. The performance was well done. Don't let this book pass you by.
Connie