A fierce and heart-breaking historical debut, perfect for fans of The Light Between Oceans and based on the incredible true story of convict Mary Bryant.

Highway robber
Convict
Runaway
Mother

Jenny Trelawney is no ordinary thief. Forced by poverty to live in the Devon forest, she becomes a successful highway woman - until her luck runs out.

Transported to Australia, pregnant and alone, Jenny must face harsh challenges in an unforgiving land. When famine hits the new colony, Jenny becomes convinced that those she most cares about will not survive.

She becomes the leader in a grand plot of escape. Setting sail in a small open boat on an unknown ocean, she will do anything for freedom, but at what cost?

Meg Keneally's debut solo novel is an epic historical adventure based on the extraordinary life of convict Mary Bryant.

About the Author

Meg Keneally worked as a public affairs officer, subeditor, freelance feature writer, reporter and talkback radio producer, before co-founding a financial service public relations company, which she then sold after having her first child. For more than ten years, Meg has worked in corporate affairs for listed financial services companies, and doubles as a part-time SCUBA diving instructor.

She is co-author with Tom Keneally of The Soldier's Curse and three other books in the Monsarrat series. Her first solo novel was Fled, published in 2019, followed by The Wreck (2020).

Meg lives in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

Reviews
An irresistible feast of history, adventure, intrigue and tragedy. Epic yet tender. Authentic yet inspired * Clare Wright *
I was utterly absorbed - swept up and transported into convict life. Jenny Trelawney's struggles - her intelligence, courage and grit - as well as Meg Keneally's beautifully understated writing, kept me up past bedtime night after night * Jane Rawson *
A real page turner, this breathtaking yarn will keep you on the edge of your seat * Dr Jonathan King, author of Mary Bryant - Her Life and Escape from Botany Bay *

The novel, based on the real-life exploits of Mary Bryant, provides a colourfully detailed showcase for the limits of courage, daring and human resourcefulness.
Keneally's Jenny is a powerful personality and her life is full of incident and tragedy - which was true of the woman on whom she is based

* Daily Mail *
Moving and heartbreaking, the rhythm of the sea runs through every page of this dramatic, evocative tale * Woman's Weekly *
In Jenny Trelawney, the author has created a strong, resourceful and tenacious character who uses every means at her disposal to survive, and it's a hard book to stop reading. Keneally sets up a momentum that's maintained through every stage of her journey [and] each location is vividly realised * The Herald *
In Jenny Trelawney, the author has created a strong, resourceful and tenacious character who uses every means at her disposal to survive, and it's a hard book to stop reading. Keneally sets up a momentum that's maintained through every stage of her journey - from a forest in Cornwall to her stint in a prison hulk, from giving birth on the long voyage to Australia to the privations of the colony itself - each location vividly realised * Herald, Scotland *
If this is the standard Keneally is setting, it will be no surprise to see that famed surname etched anew on the national's literary awards * The Saturday Paper *
Clever and engaging * Good Reading *
Fled if one of the most satisfying historical fiction accounts in recent memory * The Saturday Paper *
Keneally's debut novel is a tragedy of epic proportions....It is a testament to Keneally's dexterity that she is able to bring Jenny into focus as both a historical figure and a stand-in for others like her without losing the thread of her narrative. The reader can't help feeling implicated as a spectator of unimaginable hardship. * The New York Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9781785768811
Author Meg Keneally
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Zaffre
Publisher Zaffre
Weight(grams) 292g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 23mm