Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

Dangerous Women

by Hope Adams

Named one of 2021’s Most Anticipated Historical Novels by Oprah Magazine ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ and more!

Nearly two hundred condemned women board a transport ship bound for Australia. One of them is a murderer. From debut author Hope Adams comes a thrilling novel based on the 1841 voyage of the convict ship Rajah, about confinement, hope, and the terrible things we do to survive.

London, 1841. One hundred eighty Englishwomen file aboard the Rajah, embarking on 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 to flee justice.

As the Rajah sails farther from land, the women forge a tenuous kinship. Until, in the middle of the cold and unforgiving sea, a young mother is mortally wounded, and the hunt is on for the assailant before he or she strikes again.

Each woman called in for question has something to fear: Will she be attacked next? Will she be believed? Because far from land, there is nowhere to flee, and how can you prove innocence when you’ve already been found guilty?

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on

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This book has hook that pulls you in, "Nearly two hundred condemned women board a transport ship bound for Australia. One of them is a murderer. "

I'm not certain that this book succeeds as a thriller, but it does succeed in bringing to light the plight of women in the early 1840s and I did enjoy those bits of the story the most. I felt the pivots in time were too close together and the voices of the different women were too similar at time which led to some confusion. (I thought Sarah was Hattie for a good portion of the book.) Overall, the book was enjoyable, if not confusing at points, and I did enjoy learning about this time this time in history.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

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Reading updates

  • 17 February, 2021: Started reading
  • 21 February, 2021: Finished reading
  • 21 February, 2021: Reviewed