When I came across Remember Me (somewhere) and saw it was about a real woman, Mary Broad, who was transported to Australia (First Fleet no less) I had to read it. I will admit I found it a bit slow initially, but once we hit Botany Bay (in fact, Port Jackson to be correct), I became totally engrossed in Mary’s story.
I’d never heard of the true tale of her escape before, when she and various others (a lot more than are in the book apparently) stole Governor Philip’s cutter and sailed their way north along the coast to Timor, with two small children. All would have been well there, except for the actions of her braggard and drunken husband.
I did get sick of hearing how intelligent Mary considered herself, and stronger and more competent etc etc, and how much cleaner she kept herself, but these little niggles were washed away (so to speak) by the sheer audacity of her story. Remember Me is recommended read.
Find Remember Me here.
More reviews here and my monthly round up of what I’ve read here.