Based on the real life Rajah quilt made by convict women on board the Rajah whilst on their journey from England to Van Diemen’s Land (now “Tasmania”) in 1841.
The story spares nothing of the roughness and harsh conditions on board the convict ships. When a storm begins, ‘the hold becomes a groaning mass of writhing bodies, souped in a mix of vomit and filth.’ This book is not for the faint hearted, and as such is more suitable for upper primary, with explanations by an adult as to what is going on in the story.
One of the convict women, Molly, dies after having a fever. “They bury her in the heaving waters.” A Bible or religious book is shown in the illustration, with a Christian cross on the cover.
The main character becomes even more determined to not ‘pass from this world as if I had never been here.’ She works on the quilt, and when they arrive in Australia she is pleased that it will be a memento of the dying woman “Molly” and herself.
At the end of the book is some information about the Rajah quilt. It states that it was ‘lost for 147 years before being rediscovered in a Scottish attic.’
It is now housed in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
Jane Allison reviews books 