The Girl From Botany Bay

"Carolly Erickson is one of the most accomplished and successful historical biographers writing in English."
–The Times Literary Supplement

The First Elizabeth

"Even more readable and absorbing than the justly praised works of Tuchman and Fraser. A vivid and eminently readable portrait of history’s favorite Tudor."
–The New York Times Book Review

"A masterpiece of narrative, a story so absorbing it is as hard to put down as a fine novel."
–Los Angeles Times Book Review

Alexandra

"Gifted . . . breathless . . . heartbreaking . . . Erickson excels."
–Chicago Tribune

Josephine

"An intimate, richly detailed, and candid portrait . . . [Erickson’s] scholarly insights combine superbly with a mastery of period manners more often found in the best historical fiction."
–Kirkus Reviews

Mistress Anne

"Carolly Erickson is a most admirable biographer, and this book is highly enjoyable as well as being reliable and acute; indeed, it is popular historical biography at its best."
—The Times (London)

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Fiction masquerading as history, 2008-10-28
This is undoubtedly one of the worst books I've ever read on Australian history and I've read a great many including several on Mary Bryant by authors who knew what they were talking about.
Almost everything about Mary Bryant in this book is just plain wrong. Or, to put it more clearly, most of it didn't happen that way. Don't waste your money.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Shocking, compelling , 2008-09-10
A gripping page turner illustrating incredible endurance and survival of an eighteenth century English convict sent to Australia's Botany Bay.

Found guilty of highway robbery in 1787, Mary Bryant was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at England's newest penal colony in Botany Bay (Sydney Cove). She was one of more than a hundred convicts onboard the harrowing First Fleet.

The voyage out to Australia and then the trial and errors of establishing a settlement are alive with all the unbelievable horrors one can imagine. Their escape to Indonesia is an unsurpassed human feat of courage and determination. Scurvy, malaria, ocean storms, inhumane and cruel treatments, brutal living conditions, thirst and hunger, it's all here.

This is Mary Bryant's astonishing story and Carolly Erickson's descript narrative is of the highest caliber. Highly recommend.



0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I HAVE FOUND A NEW WRITER , 2008-01-27
I BOUGHT THIS BOOK THINKING IT WAS A NOVEL. I WAS DISSAPOINTED WHEN I FOUND IT WAS NOT. I WAS NOT DISSAPOINTED WHEN I READ IT. IT WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN IN STORY FORM. I REALLY GOT TO KNOW THE PEOPLE SHE WRITES ABOUT. IT WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE. I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK AS A NICE CHANGE OF PASE BOOK.


0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A good piece of niche history, 2007-04-02
This short book retelling the legendary tale of the Girl from Botany Bay--actually Sydney Cove--who was sentenced to penal camp labor in Australia for highway robbery in England in the late 1700s is an entertaining read.

Pieced largely from a few contemporary mentions of Mary Broad in newspapers, journals, and personal memoirs of people who were in the journey with her, Ms. Erickson has put together a short, well researched book.

Though less than 200 pages, the book could have probably been shorter. Since there is so little in the public record about Mary Broad, who was illiterate herself and hence couldn't write down her own story, Ms. Erickson has to spend a great deal of time on conjecture and educated guesses about what may have been going through Mary's mind at a particular point in time. This distraction aside, the book is still worth the short time it would take to read.



1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Ever wanted a reason to not become a criminal?, 2006-06-03
Terrifying story of the dangers of the sea and the horrors of life on prison ships.

Thank heavens I have never committed any of the crimes (or at least been caught) that would have doomed me to the punishment of being on a ship bound for Botany Bay.

Mary Broad's story of "Crime and Punishment" is a vivid description of 18th century survival under the harshest conditions.

Sealed into a filthy, animalistic hold of a ship and bound for halfway around the world to be imprisioned on the primative Botany Bay, Mary's life goes from bad to worse prompting a plan to escape via a small boat.

With her husband and friends, Mary sets off to get anywhere but Botany Bay. Battered by weather that would have challenged the largest of ships, the little group of escaped convicts suffer hunger and thirst, lose sight of the coast, and find themselves in the open sea.

Finally they drag into the harbor of Kupang where they are accepted and given the warmest of welcomes. Finally, for the first time in her life, Mary experiences pleasures of life that had always been out of her reach. But this dream-life comes to an end when the residents of Kupang realize that their new friends are escaped prisoners.

Mary is turned over to the British and returned to England. Standing trial once again she is to be remanded to Newgate Prison -- it was new then -- but public sentiment moves the courts to determine that Mary has been punished enough and she is released.

The rest of her life is spent quietly and she passes into history without any more notice. The only reason we know her story or even have any interest in the story of Mary Brand is because she was "The Girl from Botany Bay".

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