A brilliantly written historical novel, part based on truth, but with an added bit of fiction. This is story is as well woven as the quilt that the women made on their journey across the sea.

Kezia Hayter had worked with Elizabeth Fry and some other ladies from the Ladies Society who were aiming to improve prison conditions for women. Kezia had a free passage onboard the Rajah a ship set to transport 200 female convicts to Van Diemen’s in the hope of giving them a new start in life. These women had been charged mostly with petty crimes, some were innocent, now they were being sent to the other side of the world never to see family again.

Kezia is assigned as the matron and tasks 18 of the women to work on a quilt as they sail the seas, this would have been no easy task stitching in very poor light, the motion of the ship but they managed it. The patchwork coverlet still hangs to this day in the collection of the National Gallery in Australia in Canberra.

The story is told in alternating chapters one by Kezia, and the other by Cara one of the prisoners, as well as two timelines then April 1841 and now July 1841. As the Captain along with Kezia, the vicar and the doctor interview the women, over the stabbing of Hattie one of the other passengers. Who would harm Hattie? Who had sent her a threatening stitched square? Why would anyone want to hurt Hattie? She is travelling with her young son Bertie. There are a number of characters in the story all strong women, they had had to be in order to survive. Not just life on board the ship but their lives before that in trying to feed their children and look after their families. I love the way Kezia fights for her ladies, knowing they will not get a fair judgement by the men, she stands her ground. Along with the blossoming romance between her and the Captain of the ship.

The writing is brilliantly done you feel how claustrophobic the cabins would have been, the smells, the conditions the women were living in, when the sea got rough, the slops would spill everywhere, along with everything falling off of shelves etc.

Kezia Hayter, the Captain, the dr and the vicar are all real characters that sailed on the Rajah. This is a well researched story telling of the voyage with the added murder

A read I would highly recommend if you enjoy historical fiction, worth looking up the quilt as well to see what the women stitched.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #MichaelJBooks for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book a story about the female convicts on board ship being transported for their crimes to Van Diemens Land on the other side of the world. We are shown the hardships of a long sea voyage and the effect it has on the women and how they look forward to a new life in a new world but are sad because they are leaving family behind. Kezia is the matron of these women and although young is authoritative yet well liked and the women see her as a friend. Under Kezia's instruction they construct a huge patchwork quilt while on board to occupy their time and teach them new skills. The characters in this book are real and relatable and I am glad there was a happy ending for Kezia, Sarah and Bertie. Well worth a read

This for me sounded quite intriguing on reading the blurb and I had high expectations, but have to say it was just an ok read for me, I didn’t dislike it nor did I love it. It was well written but unfortunately in my opinion I found it to be a little slow going for me.

I first heard about this book at Henley Literary Festival in 2019 when it was one of the debut novels featured at the Michael Joseph Proof Party, At the time, Dangerous Women was due to be published in 2020 under the title Conviction. For various reasons, publication was delayed but the plot of Dangerous Women is largely unchanged from that which the author described at the time. Indeed the passage from the book Hope read from at the event can be found in the final version.

Dangerous Women is inspired by the real life voyage of the Rajah from London to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in 1841 during which many of the women prisoners, as in the book, worked on the embroidery of an elaborate quilt - now held in the National Gallery of Australia.

Although technically sentenced to transportation for a set number of years,.for many of the women aboard the Rajah, it will be the last time they see England, leading to heartbreaking scenes as the ship departs. “The ones who have children will yearn for them. The ones who have living parents will fear their deaths, their sicknesses, and being unable to help them.” But it’s not the same for all the women. For Kezia Hayter, who her whole life has felt underappreciated by her mother compared to her sister Henrietta, it's a chance to forge an independent path in life. Her appointment as Matron on the voyage is also an opportunity to contribute to a cause about which she feels strongly: the welfare and rehabilitation of female prisoners. From the outset Kezia feels sympathy for and a sense of responsibility towards those in her charge, coming to think of them as "her" women. She goes out of her way to encourage them and to defend them where necessary.

The convicts are perhaps fortunate in that both the captain of the Rajah, Charles Ferguson, and the ship's surgeon, Mr. Donovan, hold relatively enlightened views. Like Kezia, they are prepared to recognise that circumstances - poverty, abuse, coercion - may have led the women to commit the crimes they have. Clergyman Mr. Davies, on the other hand, subscribes to the less generous view that the cause of the women's crimes is sinfulness.

For the women chosen by Kezia to work on the patchwork quilt she has designed, it's not only a means of learning a skill that may benefit them in their new lives but a chance to leave the confines of below decks where the other less fortunate convicts spend their days. It also becomes a shared endeavour. Despite their different backgrounds and life experiences, by the end of the voyage they have become, as the author so imaginatively puts it, "a patchwork of souls".

Although we're told the Rajah is transporting one hundred and eighty women, for narrative reasons the reader only really gets to know the eighteen women chosen by Kezia to work on the quilt, and even then only to varying degrees. The plight of the remaining women and the cramped and claustrophobic conditions that must have existed below deck remain largely in the background, except for a vivid scene in which the Rajah encounters a storm. However, within the circle of women working on the quilt, the reader gets to see friendships formed and severed, stories shared and secrets revealed.

A vivid account of an epic voyage, Dangerous Women is also a cleverly constructed “locked room” mystery. As well as trying to work out who might have carried out the vicious attack that takes place early on in the voyage, I enjoyed looking out for clues to the identity of the individual onboard who is not entirely what they seem. To be truthful, the answer to the latter was revealed a little earlier than I expected but that still leaves time for plenty of dramatic events to unfold. There are revelations that bring redemption for some and unexpected possibilities for others.

I thought the setting of this book both in time and place to be the best part of it. I knew nothing about female convicts being deported in this way so I have learnt something. However the thriller element of this essentially murder mystery book failed to entrall me.

London, 1841: One Hundred and Eighty English women file aboard the Rajah, embarkingon a three month voyage to the other side of the world. They're daughters, sisters, mothers -- and convicts. Transported for petty crimes. Except one of them has a deadly secret, and will do anything for justice. As the Rajah sails further from land, the women forge tenuous kinship. Until, a young mother is mortally wounded, and the hunt is on for the assailant before he or she strikes again.

There's a few true Historical facts included in this debut novel: The Rajah, some of the characters and the quilt the women made. When one of the women gets violently stabbed, it's up to Captain Charles Ferguson, Reverend Mr Davies and theships surgeon, Mr Donovan to interview the womento try and find out who was responsible. Told from multiple points of view, this story is interesting and gripping. We get a different perspective of how life was like on boad the Rajah. This is a well written story that mixes fact with fiction.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #PenguinMichaelJosephUK and the author #HopeAdams for my ARC # DangerousWomen in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Hanifa Frederick at Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡 by Hope Adams
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𝐎𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲... 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
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I highly enjoyed Dangerous Women. Although it is clearly Historical Fiction, it felt like it spanned multiple genres with the story aboard The Rajah being a Classic Murder Mystery but with a feminist twist.
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𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.
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The story itself is woven together in an intricate and beautiful way, much like the Rajah quilt that is being fashioned by the women on their voyage to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
The movement of perspective between 'then' and 'now' really adds a richness to the story, allowing for the womens' backgrounds and experiences to be shared with the reader, alongside the appearance of their characters in the present.
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𝐊𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐱. 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐝  𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞? 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐚, 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 ... 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲.
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I also loved how the main plot was interspersed with descriptions of the ship on its journey across the ocean.
These depictions added to the atmosphere and mood aboard the ship, as well as helping convey the passage of time and space within the story.
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𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐮𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝.
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Even though Dangerous Women is based on the historical voyage of female convicts being transported, which dates back to 1841, I love that the characters are strong and that they challenge the conventions of womanhood that society forces upon them.
Many of the convicts themselves are strong characters - some who are even innocent of their alleged crimes - but Kezia in particular is tenacious, and refuses to be pushed around by anyone (especially her male counterparts) even though she isn't always the most self-confident.
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𝐊𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 ... '𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 ... 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮.'
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After reading the historical note at the back of the book I looked up 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘫𝘢𝘩 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 online and read about the women who created it, and the real journey of the ship. The quilt itself is beautiful and incredibly detailed - quite an amazing achievement.
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𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞, 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 ... 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬.
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I'd highly recommend Dangerous Women to anyone who likes Historical Fiction and Classic Murder Mystery, and would definitely read more from Hope Adams in the future.

Interesting who done it. The story line is based on a real aspect of history sending women who have been charged for petty crimes to Australia, Date is 1841 and the ship takes 180 women to a new life.. The crime that has happened on board the ship brings about an investigation to find out who killed one of the women and why.

A great read and interesting how the investigation into the murder was based around the quilt some of the women were working on .

Highly recommended

DANGEROUS WOMEN follows a young matron, Kezia Hayter, and her group of convict women sentenced to transportation to Tasmania for their crimes. A small group are selected to work on a quilt, but the story soon takes a darker turn when one of them is stabbed.

This is a slow burn mystery. I love the historical setting- I’ve never read anything about the convicts who were transported to Australia & Tasmania in the 1800s so that made this a really interesting time period for me. It was also so interesting to know what those women were really like- most of them haven’t been convicted of anything particularly serious, mostly theft and other petty crimes.

It’s a gripping, heart wrenching novel, told in alternating points of view from the run up to the stabbing and the inquiry held after. Definitely one to recommend.

Great read, I adored the story of the women on the ship. Convicts going for a new life on a ship, and creating something beautiful together. I loved the focus of the story going between not just a couple of the women convicts but the matron as well. Full review will be up on my blog next week.

I know by its nature that a lot of historical fiction is grounded in real facts and events, but Dangerous Women by Hope Adams (pseudonym of Adele Geras) really caught my attention as it has one of the most fascinating real-life stories I’ve come across in a while.

Dangerous Women is set in 1841, on the Rajah. A real ship that did travel from Woolwich, London to Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania after it was renamed in 1856). There were 180 female prisoners on board. All convicted of petty crimes, they were being sent to the other side of the world with the hope that they would be able to start a fresh. Being sent away from family, friends and life as they knew it being the punishment for their crimes.

The particular journey that Dangerous Women focuses on is well-known as, during it, around 20 of the female convicts worked together to create the Rajah quilt. A beautiful tapestry that is still on display today in the National Gallery of Australia.

23-year-old Kezia Hayter really was was on board the Rajah (her cousin George Hayter was a painter and famously did a portrait of Queen Victoria) to act as a matron to the women and it is she who is credited for the organisation and execution of the quilt.

She appears as a character in Dangerous Women: a strong, clever, kind and wise woman who not only helps give the women a sense of purpose, but voices the frustrations of being a woman, generally, in 1841. Sexism was rife and and woman with an opinion were not favourably looked upon. She holds her own and gives a great feminist voice to this story.

The story is told in two time blocks – the beginning and end of the voyage; shifting between April / May, at the beginning of the journey, and July – around 100 days at sea when an attack happens. This throws the balance of the ship into disarray and means Kezia has to work with Captain Charles Ferguson to find out who is the attacker.

Author Hope Adams expertly handles having so many characters in the mix. As well as Kezia and the captain, there are about 18 convict women who are named. From Hattie, Joan, Emily, Sarah, Tabitha and Marion, you remember their stories and their personalities come through.

The scene is also set perfectly: I could practically feel the ship swaying and creaking around me as I read. The confined space naturally adds a claustrophobic air to enhance the mystery and suspense of the storyline.

The sea, its great weight and depth (to which Kezia had never quite grown accustomed), moved below them slowly and heavily, and it came to her that the Rajah was like an insect perched on the back of an enormous, constantly turning creature that lived and breathed as they did.

I enjoyed how all the chapters set in April / May began with a description of a piece of fabric that makes up the quilt the woman are sewing. This added detail pulls focus to the quilt and really helps you envision it.

The Rajah quilt is still revered today as a symbol of hope and optimism through times of adversity – themes that the book so wonderfully explores and carries through.

I was a little emotional when I finished reading Dangerous Women. A gentle burner of a whodunnit that pulls you into the heart of its story, while celebrating redemption, rehabilitation and the good in people. All set to the backdrop of a truly fascinating slice of history.

I enjoyed Dangerous Women - an evocative read that brought history alive for me. It had a bit of everything - mystery, drama and romance, with a healthy spot of redemption thrown in for good measure. I liked the Then and Now interplay between the characters on board and their individual backstories, and the pacing was good, keeping me hooked right to the end.

This book was amazing. The story is of the Rajah and the transportation of 180 women.to Australia for a new life having been convicted in England.
The Captain, the ship's surgeon are all well-developed characters and the book covers the individual stories of a few of the convicts. back in the UK and on the ship. Whilst on the trip there is a stabbing and it turns into a who-done it..This is based on a true story and a very interesting read.

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Dangerous women follows the plight of 180 women who have been chosen to leave prison and be transported to Van Dieman’s land, where they will start a new life.

Kezia Hayter has chosen to go on the voyage too, she feels she has nothing to keep her in England and wants to start a new life. She has agreed to teach some of the women patchwork in return for her passage on the ship.

The journey takes 105 days of conditions tougher than the prison. During the voyage a murder is committed and Kezia, along with the captain, MD, and a reverend, work together to try to solve the case.

The book is a story of fiction based on real life events and real life people. It was interesting to learn more about the journey and the the women’s back stories were very interesting and brought the book to life. I was a bit disappointed that it ended on landing, we are given clues to the future of the women but I would welcome a sequel to look at how the women got set up in their new lives, how they adapted and what became of them.

I very interesting, historical read and I would love to see the finished patchwork!

I love good historical fiction based on an actual event or happening. This story of the Rajah and it's journey to what is now Tasmania with a 'cargo' of 200 female convicts is definitely up there with the best. It is well researched, well written and truly an emotional roller coaster. I could almost feel the rolling of the ship as the emotions and actions of the women moved up and down. As a needlewoman I appreciated the work involved in the making of the Rajah coverlet and the joy and annoyances of working together on a group project. Reading this during lockdown when we haven't been able to socialise for months made this a particularly poignant read. With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC of this great book.

Dangerous Women is based on true events, and I think this always makes for a fascinating read. In 1841, the transportation ship, Rajah, left England for Van Dieman's Land, carrying a crew and a large group of convicted women. These women were mostly petty criminals, forced into crime through poverty, abuse and lack of opportunity to be educated. The matron aboard ship is Kezia Hayter, a passionate and inspiring woman who defended the women against ignorance and prejudice. She selects a small group to undertake a project - sewing together to complete a patchwork - the hope being it will keep the women from boredom, bond them, and raise their self esteem.

For the most part, her goal is achieved, but when one of her group of women is stabbed, fear and suspicion grows amongst the women. As each is interviewed, the truth slowly emerges, and once again, Kezia shows empathy and compassion.

This book has intrigue a-plenty, it is historically fascinating and the women are the stars of the story. Add to that a beautifully charming love story developing between the captain of the ship and Kezia, and you have all the ingredients for a brilliant read. I thoroughly enjoyed Dangerous Women.

An interesting retelling of the voyage of a convict ship from Britain to van diemens land in the 19th century. The convicts are all women and it's based on historical documents. I enjoyed the tale and the Rajah quilt, but did find the " then" and "now" sections quite confusing and at times the dialogue felt jarring, however overall a good read
Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Michael for an advance copy of this book.

The story follows the voyage of The Rajah from Britain to Van Diemen's Land with a load of convict women on board. Kezia is appointed as their matron and is charged with making sure they arrive fit to start their new lives. To while away the time and give at least some of her charges a new skill they can use to earn money when they land, she organises for some of the women to join her on deck every day to stitch a commemorative quilt of their journey, having scoured markets and haberdashers before leaving England for materials.

The story centres from the start on a stabbing on board of Hattie Matthews and over the course of the book, we learn more about each convict and eventually, why she was targeted and by whom.

Chapters are titled Then and Now at the start of each one, with a sub heading if it deals with a particular character throughout, which helped my navigation, but I personally found the Then and Now idea distracting which is why I've dropped a star. Until I finished the ebook and read the Historical Note, I hadn't realised it was based on a true story - there really was a Rajah which sailed to Van Diemen's Land with women convicts on board, a quilt was made on the journey, Kezia, Rev Davies and Dr Donovan were 'real' people - but though a death did occur on the journey too, the novel version is completely fictional.

As an Australian, I am quite keen on reading books that tell about those who were transported to my birth country. This was particularly of interest since there is so much that is known about this particular voyage. Although based on a true event, the author has used artistic licence. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. It provides a warm portrayal of the women convicts and the devotion of those chosen by their 'matron' to work on the patchwork coverlet.

I liked this story from the get go, being about women it felt as though it had a certain power behind it.

This is a book that blends history with fiction, bringing us a moving and thought provoking tale of love, betrayal and danger.

Set in 1841, we follow the fates of 180+ convicted women who are being transported on the boat, Rajah, from their jail cells in England to Van Diemen’s Land, which is present day Tasmania, in the hopes of beginning new lives.

These were women, who had all been convicted of petty crimes, not ones that would have been deemed worthy of capital punishment.

We follow their 15 week journey through four points of view, we get transported back in time, seeing the events that took place through their eyes.

One of those accounts was from Kezia Hayter, a young woman who volunteers to be a matron on the ship for free passage. She had a vision to create The Rajah Quilt with the help of 18 of the women aboard the ship.

Although fictional, this story is based on true events.

There are plenty of secrets being kept as they sail.

This felt real, the details the emotions. I was invested in these women.

They didn't have an easy time, it was a daily struggle for them to stay alive, to be positive, to find happiness amongst the miserable, cramped conditions of The Rajah.

I admire their determination.

In a world dominated by men it was inspiring to read about these independent women.

Dangerous Women as a title seems quite apt. Not because of the murder that occurs but because of the intelligence that these women displayed in the most tragic and traumatic circumstances.