Media: BOOK - paperback, 288 pages
Author: K. Daniels
Year: 1998
ISBN: 9781864486773
Other: b&w photos, index
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Who were the female convicts? What kinds of lives did they lead in a new society half a world away from home?

Kay Daniels' classic book 'Convict Women' was first published in 1998, and has now been reprinted. This title looks beyond the conventional images to draw a new and often surprising picture of convict women's experiences in a strange and harsh country. Beginning with the story of Maria Lord - convict, pioneer family woman, successful entrepreneur and abandoned wife - the book looks at the central themes of convict woman's history in Australia, ranging from the female factories and orphan school to sexuality and freedom.

Neither damned whores nor passive victims, these women and the choices they made shaped the world in which they lived. 'Convict Women' tells us much about the richness and complexity of life in a newly formed community.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Maria Lord
2. Writing About Convict Women
3. Transportation and its Management
4. Assignment
5. The Female Factories: The Failure of Reform
6. Rough Culture and Rebellion
7. Sexuality
8. Prostitution
9. Freedom
10. Heritage
Endnotes
Index

Reviews:
'Kay Daniels entrances us with a highly original picture of the lives of convict women. From the first page to the last we are drawn into a world very different from our own, yet also strangely recognisable and uncomfortable pertinent - Ann Curthoys, Manning Clark Professor of History, ANU