Australia
Michael Joseph
2010
560
In 1798 a young woman from Cornwall, Mary Broad, is caught stealing a bonnet in a market; as the market is on a main street this is deemed as Highway Robbery and the sentence at the time is hanging. The sentence is commuted however and reduced to 7 years transportation.
Though at the time this sentence seems preferable to death, Mary spends many moments over the next seven years wishing she had hung instead. Pearse recounts the story of Mary’s journey brilliantly, the appalling conditions the convicts were kept in, the little or no food they were given and the dreadful hardships that had to be endured when arriving in a different land for the first time.
Based on a true story this incredible tale will move you to tears