As with many convicts, dressmaker, Ann Inett's story of how she became one of the many transported amongst the First Fleet was a sad injustice to her. If only that Judge had bothered to listen to her story! Her life would have turned out very differently for her and her two small children who had lost their father in the American War. Instead she was sent on a wretched ship, torn from her children, to the other side of the world with many other convict women, some became lifelong friends.

Philip Gidley King first noticed Ann when he went to check on the welfare of the women convicts and saw the dreadful state they were in. After a shocking journey on their arrival in the Colony he asked Ann Inett to be his housekeeper, which after some thought she agreed to do.

When he was sent to set up a Colony on Norfolk Island, she accompanied him to take care of his household, which at first was a draughty tent with timber sides. Once Government House was built Ann not only looked after the household and King, but at the end of each day he would drink a glass of Port and discuss the days events and his concerns, with her becoming his confidant. Over time, they developed a relationship from which two sons were born. The first child born in the Colony, named Norfolk, and the second son called Sydney. Even though she dropped many hints for wanting to marry, it never eventuated, as King was concerned his future and career could be hampered by marrying a convict.

Two years later, King travels back to England to provide a report on Norfolk Island, leaving Ann with their two children in Port Jackson (Sydney) in a house he has acquired for them. He knew how she desperately wanted him to return to her and their children. After a year and a half in England, visiting his mother and seeing the manager of his farm in Cornwall, his secret continued. Somehow, he could just not bring himself to tell his mother, relatives nor his friends about his mistress and his two sons.

On his arrival back in Port Jackson, Ann is eagerly awaiting his return with their two boys watching his ship arrive. To her horror, she sees him kissing and helping a young lady off the ship, his wife. The heartfelt way in which this is written, one could feel the rising tension and Ann's heartbreak as the two women and his sons meet for their first time.

King's wife, Anna Josepha is shown as an incredibly, generously spirited woman as she and Ann  form a strong, caring enduring friendship thrown together in these extraordinary circumstances.

This story is  wonderfully well written with an insight into female friendships, betrayals, different loyalties, lasting love and several triumphs, including the pivotal role that women played in developing this country. It shows some very difficult circumstances in this harsh new land, including taking and granting great tracts of land from local indigenous people and briefly including Bennelong, Barangaroo, Pemulwuy .

Woven into this thoroughly enjoyable historical novel based on truth, are the lives of the founding fathers and the backgrounds to their conflicts, Governors Philip,  Bligh, the Rum Rebellion, Macquarie, McArthur and the wool industry. One man's diligence and hard work, as Governor in the early days, establishing life on the other side of the world that appears in the end to have been unappreciated by the British Admiralty.

Recommend reading tfor anyone interested in history and the people who formed this great land.

The Author

Sue Williams' first two historical novels, Elizabeth & Elizabeth, about Elizabeth Macquarie and Elizabeth Macarthur, and That Bligh Girl, with Mary Bligh and her father, the notorious mutiny survivor and governor William Bligh, both proved bestsellers. This is her third, being the prequel, in her series about the early days of colonial Australia. Sue is also an award-winning journalist, travel writer and bestselling author of non-fiction. Her previous books include Run For Your Life, Under Her Skin: The life and work of Professor Fiona Wood; Mean Streets, Kind Heart: The Father Chris Riley Story; Father Bob: The larrikin priest; The Last Showman: Fred Brophy; No Time For Fear: Paul de Gelder; Peter Ryan: The inside story; And Then The Darkness and Daughter of the River Country.