Exiles A Novel

3.5 stars

My favorite character just disappeared. Then... the other main character died.

Mostly well developed characters, but the background characters were just kind of there. And the timeline seemed a bit contrived.

Beautifully written with realistic characters and a fascinating historical plot.

A well written novel that earns 2 stars for dramatic and unnecessary emotional manipulation.

Oof. I've read a couple of Kline's other novels, both Orphan Train and A Piece of the World, and deeply enjoyed both, so I'm not surprised to have enjoyed this one. Nor am I surprised that it gave me so many feelings. I love well written historical fiction, and Kline is a master of the genre-I think she's going to go into my list of authors I'll read without question.

Honest take: didn't love it.
According to my book club, it's an unpopular opinion.
I got to hear the author talk about this book and how she based all of the characters on either real people or realistic experiences that the characters would have faced historically. And while I respect that aspect of the writing, some of her choices fell flat for me.
I don't like reading books that make me distrust the author. When they kill off the main character and write characters that can be interchangeable, it doesn't make me want to continue reading. Evangeline and Hazel ended up with the same personality as soon as the author killed Evangeline off. She wrote in a Tasmanian historical figure that was an indigenous little girl stolen from her people and forced to learn English ways, but was abruptly abandoned. I thought she handled the writing of this character delicately, even if the whole character felt like an oddly placed name drop to bring more intrigue to her main story.
There were parts that I genuinely liked while reading, like the poisoning, Olive and Ruby, and I liked the constant descriptions of the smells and scenery that made the conditions of the convicts palpable.
It was interesting to read this one in a book club where every other person loved the book.

The end was a bit disappointing. Not the content so much but it slowed.

This was such an emotional read which pulled on my heartstrings repeatedly. I do love historical novels and The Exiles was based on a part of history I knew very little about: the transporting of British convicts to various penal colonies in Australia.

The book focuses on the lives of two young women who are exiled to Australia, accused of petty crimes and an Aboriginal girl, Mathinna, sent to live with Governor John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane for their own amusement. The harsh conditions that these women had to endure and the unrighteousness of it all was heart wrenching. I wept for Evangeline, one of the woman falsely accused of stealing. In the blink of an eye her world was turned upside down and she was powerless to do anything about it. Hazel, in her teens, was another strong female character who was caught stealing in order to keep her mother happy and for her own survival. All three characters removed from the life they knew and sent to an unjust world where they were treated appallingly.

Kline weaves a story based on true events which was both memorising and fascinating. Her powerful writing and brilliant storytelling captivated me, transporting me to a time and place where there was so much injustice in the world and heartache. Although there was a lot of sadness in the book there was always hope: hope that their fate would change, hope for a brighter future and hope that they would be reunited with their love ones. The endearing relationships the women made with one another, especially those of Olive and Dr. Dunne was a beautiful, important and powerful part of the novel which I thoroughly enjoyed.

This well researched novel left me thinking about the book and characters long after I had turned the final page. Thank you Kline for educating me and taking me on one hell of a journey; I laughed, I cried and I cried some more. A must read.

My thanks also goes to Random Things Tours and Allison and Busby for inviting me on the blog tour. This is a book that will stay with me forever, highly recommend.