Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by saareman
Astraea by Kate Kruimink
5.0
Transported to Van Diemen's Land
Review of the Weatherglass Books paperback (expected release August 22, 2024).
Astraea tells a 19th century story of the voyage of the title ship bearing a boatload of female convicts to exile in Van Diemen's Land (the early colonial name for Tasmania). The women, many traveling along with their children or giving birth enroute, have been sentenced for petty crimes of theft. This was a forced method of creating a female population for the colonization of Australia at the time (there was no provision for their return to Europe). The women were assigned / sentenced to unpaid domestic or factory work, in effect the slavery of indentured servitude.
Opening page of "Astraea". Image sourced from Paul Fulcher's X(Twitter) here.
The story centres on one young woman, who is travelling without her newborn who has been left behind with the grandmother. Because of her lactating she becomes a nursemaid for others giving birth onboard. Her friendship with a rebellious young woman is part of the plot as they attempt to plan their future under the repressive conditions. Both act out in various ways which result in ship board punishments meted out, solitary confinements in either the coal hole or a wooden coffin-sized prison box.
Astraea was a harrowing and unforgettable reading experience about a hidden history that is perhaps little known. It easily became one of my 5-star "can't stop reading in order to find out what will happen" ratings.
Illustration of the cramped conditions onboard the female convict transportation ships. Image sourced from Pinterest.
This was the co-winner of the inaugural 2024 Weatherglass Novella Prize, along with Deborah Tomkins' Aerth (to be published January 2025) as selected by novelist [a:Ali Smith|68992|Ali Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1620558954p2/68992.jpg].
I read Astraea through my subscription to independent publisher Weatherglass Books UK. Subscribers receive the books several weeks prior to the official publication date.
Other Reviews
As always, Paul Fulcher's review is highly recommended and you can read it here.
Soundtrack
Although written from a male convict's point of view, I immediately thought of the folk song Van Dieman's Land* as performed by the John Renbourn Group on the album Live in America (1982) which you can listen to on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
* Alternate spelling for Van Diemen's Land on the John Renbourn Group's Live in America album credits, possibly a typo.
Trivia and Links
You can read further on the subject of female convicts transported from England & Ireland to Australia at Wikipedia and at the Female Convicts Research Centre.
Aside from the assaults, deprivations and punishments suffered by the female convicts on board the Astraea ship in the novel, there is also the shocking use of blistering powder as a medical treatment by the onboard surgeon. In the early 19th century this was still thought of as a "cure" for certain ailments. The source of the blistering agent Cantharidin is the same beetle as for the poisonous s0-called "aphrodisiac" Spanish Fly. You can read further at Medical blistering in the Georgian Era.
Review of the Weatherglass Books paperback (expected release August 22, 2024).
Astraea tells a 19th century story of the voyage of the title ship bearing a boatload of female convicts to exile in Van Diemen's Land (the early colonial name for Tasmania). The women, many traveling along with their children or giving birth enroute, have been sentenced for petty crimes of theft. This was a forced method of creating a female population for the colonization of Australia at the time (there was no provision for their return to Europe). The women were assigned / sentenced to unpaid domestic or factory work, in effect the slavery of indentured servitude.
Opening page of "Astraea". Image sourced from Paul Fulcher's X(Twitter) here.
The story centres on one young woman, who is travelling without her newborn who has been left behind with the grandmother. Because of her lactating she becomes a nursemaid for others giving birth onboard. Her friendship with a rebellious young woman is part of the plot as they attempt to plan their future under the repressive conditions. Both act out in various ways which result in ship board punishments meted out, solitary confinements in either the coal hole or a wooden coffin-sized prison box.
Astraea was a harrowing and unforgettable reading experience about a hidden history that is perhaps little known. It easily became one of my 5-star "can't stop reading in order to find out what will happen" ratings.
Illustration of the cramped conditions onboard the female convict transportation ships. Image sourced from Pinterest.
This was the co-winner of the inaugural 2024 Weatherglass Novella Prize, along with Deborah Tomkins' Aerth (to be published January 2025) as selected by novelist [a:Ali Smith|68992|Ali Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1620558954p2/68992.jpg].
I read Astraea through my subscription to independent publisher Weatherglass Books UK. Subscribers receive the books several weeks prior to the official publication date.
Other Reviews
As always, Paul Fulcher's review is highly recommended and you can read it here.
Soundtrack
Although written from a male convict's point of view, I immediately thought of the folk song Van Dieman's Land* as performed by the John Renbourn Group on the album Live in America (1982) which you can listen to on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
... My sentence was for fourteen years, and I was sent on board.Footnote
Now the ship set course from the land, the Speedwell was her name,
For full four months and more my boys, we plowed the raging main,
No land, no harbour could we see, believe it is no lie,
All around us one black water, above us one blue sky.
Now the first day that we made the land upon that fateful shore,
The planters gathered round us there, full twenty score and more,
They led us round like horses there and sold us out of hand,
Now they yoked us to the plow my boys, to plow Van Diemen's Land. - excerpt from the folk song "Van Dieman's Land".
* Alternate spelling for Van Diemen's Land on the John Renbourn Group's Live in America album credits, possibly a typo.
Trivia and Links
You can read further on the subject of female convicts transported from England & Ireland to Australia at Wikipedia and at the Female Convicts Research Centre.
Aside from the assaults, deprivations and punishments suffered by the female convicts on board the Astraea ship in the novel, there is also the shocking use of blistering powder as a medical treatment by the onboard surgeon. In the early 19th century this was still thought of as a "cure" for certain ailments. The source of the blistering agent Cantharidin is the same beetle as for the poisonous s0-called "aphrodisiac" Spanish Fly. You can read further at Medical blistering in the Georgian Era.