It is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the ward of a Devon clergyman, knows she has few prospects. When proud, scarred soldier John Macarthur promises her the earth one midsummer's night, she believes him.
But Elizabeth soon realises she has made a terrible mistake. Her new husband is reckless, tormented, driven by some dark rage at the world. He tells her he is to take up a position as Lieutenant in a New South Wales penal colony and she has no choice but to go. Sailing for six months to the far side of the globe with a child growing inside her, she arrives to find Sydney Town a brutal, dusty, hungry place of makeshift shelters, failing crops, scheming and rumours.
All her life she has learned to be obliging, to fold herself up small. Now, in the vast landscapes of an unknown continent, Elizabeth has to discover a strength she never imagined, and passions she could never express.
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MY DEAR SON James has given me a task for my last years or months, or whatever time I have left beyond the many years I have lived so far. PART ONE
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(@canongatebooks, 6 August 2020, 336 pages, ebook, copy from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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This is based on real events. I had no familiarity with the true story of Elizabeth and John Macarthur so had no expectations for this book. The book is written as if someone has stumbled across a box of long hidden letters and journals by Elizabeth and used them to piece together her remarkable story. This is a nice touch. I really enjoyed this book, which focuses on Elizabeth's life before and during her marriage and after her husband's death. The book uses a fist person narrator from Elizabeth's POV. I prefer this POV as it helps me to get close to the character and its spot on here. Elizabeth goes through a lot, becoming much stronger across the course of the book. I enjoyed being so close to her and seeing how she develops. I've never rad the author before but need to seek out more of her work.