THE CONVICT’S

It’s a crying shame we don’t see more of these incredible stories of Australian convicts and their often remarkable children. It’s 1848 and life is challenging for just about everyone in the small colony of NSW. Fifteen-year-old Mary Ann Gill is kept close and worked hard by her tough convict mum and dad, who’ve become the respectable owners of a fine hotel. When she tries to elope with the flighty son of a gentleman settler, all hell breaks loose and the drama is played out in court, much to the glee of the scandal-loving newspapers. Kiera Lindsey takes the facts of this story of her great, great, greataunt, places them in the turbulent politics of the time, and fleshes them out with a decent but fair dose of imagination. Like her rebellious ancestor, she flouts convention with flair.