A Woman Transported is a story about one young woman's struggle, her pain and frustration, as she fights to find her mother who has been transported across the oceans to Australia, to Sydney town.
Isabel is faced with only one choice — fight her way out of the rookery of St Giles with her wit and beauty and somehow follow the ship that sent her mother to the sunburned convict land of Australia, or else die too young after a short life of wretchedness.
At the height of the convict transportation to Australia, an unseen boundary separates the poor from the rich. Isabel’s stunning beauty and strong will attract the attention of a wealthy man, but the upper classes have their own secrets, secrets entwined with hers. Daily, she has learned hard lessons on the mean streets of London, but they can’t teach her fast enough about the treachery of the wealthy. She must navigate both the gardens of the upper class and back alleys of the downtrodden in two continents. And she will, or die trying to find her mother.
Professional Reviews
Definitely a worth while read.
A Woman Transported is a grand sweeping story that takes the reader from the slums of London to the untamed splendor of Australia. I really enjoyed the details and complexities of the story and characters. Definitely a worth while read.
Heather Gregson - Author Dog of War
Goodreads
Brilliant!! A well deserved 5*s.....
A Woman Transported by Sharon Robards is a real gripping and well told story...I have very much enjoyed reading it.
I love [the protagonist] Isabel's character and principles...in spite of her often questionable decisions. I also liked the very convincing portrayals of the other characters with their various and complex personalities which were steadily maintained throughout the story.
Sharon Robards' attention to detail gives her writing a lot of credibility as the story flows seamlessly from one scene or chapter to the next without losing any of its authenticity, while at the same time keeping the timeline in sync.
There is a nice balance of factual History and descriptions of actual places blended with the Fiction, giving an overall realistic and believable quality to her story.
From page one, in Sydney 1803, the reader is made witness to some of the most dreadful actions to be perpetrated on fellow humans in our colonial times, and which were sanctioned by the sadistic pleasures of a man who was to become known and remembered in Australian History as the "Flogging Parson"...the Reverand Samuel Marsden, who, at the time had been appointed to the Bench of Magistrates in Parramatta.
The story then goes on to tell the fictional tale of the wide ranging consequences and domino effects of that action, and covers the full range of human emotion from, shock and horror, to empathy, romance and even humour, with realistic and convincing portrayals throughout.
I chose this book as a part of my Goodreads November Historical Fiction Challenge and now I am stuck for what to read next as the bar has now been set quite high!
What a great read it was! Fascinating characters with loads of mystery and intrigue, I didn't want it to end.
I have given it a well deserved 5*s, and would highly recommend it....especially to anyone still wondering what to read for their November Historical Fiction challenge.
It is one of those stories where I think I am going to be missing "Isabel" (protagonist) for some time, now that I have finished the book.
A nice balance and blending of History and Fiction. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Julie
Goodreads
I loved this historical novel set in the early 1800s, and would highly recommend it.
Isabel McGuire was a red haired beauty, living with her Pa in the poorest area of London, St Giles, where starvation was a day to day fact of life. Her Ma and brother Joshua had been transported to Sydney Town more than ten years previously and though she missed them dreadfully she was saddened when she struggled to remember her Ma’s face. Isabel’s beauty would get her into trouble, but also would help her through the many bad times ahead. Her Pa owned a candle making business, but the few pennies they received were not enough to stave off hunger, so Isabel managed to get a job at the local tavern, where luckily Tom (brusque though he was) had a soft spot for her, so set her up behind the bar.
But the night that was to change so many lives, she was wiping tables and trading insults with the customers, when an almighty explosion shook the air, the walls of the tavern collapsed, and beer began flowing in vast amounts, washing everything away in its path. The huge vats which stood above the brewery contained over 1,000,000 litres of beer, and one of the hoops which encircled them broke, causing a massive chain reaction. The resulting wave of beer flooded the surrounding slums, killing people, especially those living in the cellars.
Isabel was frantic, fighting her way through the flooded streets, hearing the screams and anguish of the people around her, but desperate to find her father. She had left him in their cellar when she’d gone to work. One of her dear friends, who was pregnant, drowned, along with her daughter. Isabel managed to find her aunt, who didn’t know where her Pa was...she hadn’t seen him leave the cellar. Desperate, wet, stinking of porter, tired, she scoured the hospital, until finally she made her way to the home of a rich man, Richard Barrett, who had been with her father when she left…..
Richard Barrett was to have a profound impact on Isabel’s life, and following some harrowing times in the intervening months, she found herself headed for Australia and a new life in the colonies. Here she hoped to find her mother and brother, to be reunited with them at long last. But fate had many unkind hands to play, and the mistakes Isabel made were many. The difference between the rich and the poor in the new colony of Sydney Town was vast, and Isabel needed her wiles and wits to keep her sanity.
I loved the character of Isabel, she was flawed, she made an incredible amount of wrong choices, but she was wonderful. I could see her beautiful flowing red hair, her grit and determination, her stubborn character, all of which got her into trouble…many times! I kept thinking, HOW MANY MORE THINGS CAN GO WRONG!! I loved the beauty of the Australian bush and the grimy streets of London….the word pictures were painted so well.
The author’s notes at the end of the novel are interesting, showing the many facts which were blended with the fiction of this novel. The obviously meticulous research also stands out and makes the novel that much more enjoyable. Also the pace of this story is intense, there are no “quiet” spots to let you take a breath, and I just couldn’t put it down!
I loved this historical novel set in the early 1800s, and would highly recommend it.
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