Source: free give away outside of the library several years ago.
I look forward to having more time to read during the pandemic where we are home in requested seclusion.
Catherine Gaskin was only 25 when she wrote this book. I'm impressed with her grasp of history and the effectiveness of this narrative.
Historical novel set during the early colonization of Sydney, Australia. Sara was a convict on transport for theft (a careless misunderstanding when she had left the employ of a family in England.)
She is plucked out of the miserable hold being more qualified than others to fulfill the nanny needs of a lady travelling with her planter husband to settle in Australia. Her children's nanny had just died.
Sara Dane raises her station in life through her intelligence, beauty, and industry. A prominent military officer marries her despite her convict background and together they start a farm and then a successful store. Sara takes an active role in running the business. Husband and wife are united in their ambitions and have three sons.
Sara moves in a man's world and seems to have two meaningful female connections -her former employer Julie and the convict who remains faithful to her during an exciting convict uprising and who helps raise her children.
Sara's maternal instincts save her from being completely relegated to the "taboo" world of men. Andrew (military officer turned businessman and farmer) dies suddenly. Sara has no scarcity of admirers in this book. There are a handful of men that orbit her like a sun goddess:
Jeremy - right hand man and overseer who began as a convict but continues out of loyalty (and love)
Richard (previous flame from England - elegant and athletic but lacking in industry),
French guy - forgot his name: wealthy with a mysterious past and an estranged daughter. Sara marries him in order to retain the prestige that her former marriage had provided. She also likes the guy.
He also dies. She returns to England for a time with her grown children. She and Richard decide their marriage would be futile - with her children, she returns to Australia to continue the legacy and her main love - commerce!!
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