Tasmania is an Australian state that is an island off the country’s south coast. If you head south from there, your next stop would be the South Pole. Because of it’s geographic isolation, Tasmania is filled with unusual animals, flora, and fauna. It has primordial rain forests, and spectacular scenery. It was a highlight of our trip.
For reasons I struggle to understand, the English chose Tasmania—they called it Van Diemen’s Land—to dump their “human garbage” after they could no longer do so in America, having lost the “War of Independence.” I wrote about this earlier.
At great financial and human cost, the British transported prisoners to this remote outpost by ship, voyages that often ended in catastrophe.
Why did they do this?
One reason was the British zeal for free labor. Just as they rooted slavery in the thirteen colonies, so too, they extracted free labor from the prisoners who survived this journey, many of whom had not been convicted of violent crimes.
A GREAT LOVE, by Tasmanian author Heather Rose, is a sweeping epic about this time period. At the center is Caroline Douglas, a smart, tenacious woman, who travels from England to Van Diemen’s Land to rescue her imprisoned French father, who is a convicted murderer.
The novel crosses oceans and cultures. Caroline joins an elaborate scam to get the resources she needs to stake herself to life on the other side of the world. Once there, she surrounds herself with a fascinating cast of characters, each of whom has a story about how they arrived in this harsh, colonial outpost.
For readers and music lovers, I’ve recently discovered two terrific newsletters on Substack. The first is Becky Meloan’s “What’s Our Next Book?” Meloan was part of the Washington Post’s late great book review staff. She’s a prodigious reader, has wide-ranging tastes, and has a well-informed overview of the book industry.
The second is Jessica Duchen’s “Twangle: Music and Words.” Duchen is a London-based music critic and cultural commentator. She travels widely and publishes lots of interesting stuff. Her many books should be of great interest to music lovers.
I hope your spring/summer brings you rest and joy.
Love,
Martha
P.S. ICYMI, here’s my most recent newsletter/Substack, “Book Love All Around.”
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