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Bridget Crack
Van Diemen's Land, 1826.
When Bridget Crack arrives in the colony, she is just grateful to be on dry land. But finding the life of an indentured domestic servant intolerable, she pushes back and is punished for her insubordination-sent from one place to another, each significantly worse than the last. Too late, she realises the place she has ended up is the worst of the 'Interior,' where the hard cases are sent-a brutally hard life with a cruel master, miles from civilisation.
She runs from there and finds herself imprisoned by the impenetrable Tasmanian wilderness. What she finds there-what finds her-is Matt Sheedy, a man on the run, who saves her from certain death. Her precarious existence among volatile and murderous bushrangers is a different kind of hell and, surrounded by roaring rivers and towering columns of rock, hunted by soldiers and at the mercy of killers, Bridget finds herself in an impossible situation. In the face of terrible darkness, what will she have to do to survive?
A gripping and moving story of a woman's struggle for survival in a beautiful and brutal landscape, Bridget Crack is a unique and deeply accomplished novel by a rare talent.
When Bridget Crack arrives in the colony, she is just grateful to be on dry land. But finding the life of an indentured domestic servant intolerable, she pushes back and is punished for her insubordination-sent from one place to another, each significantly worse than the last. Too late, she realises the place she has ended up is the worst of the 'Interior,' where the hard cases are sent-a brutally hard life with a cruel master, miles from civilisation.
She runs from there and finds herself imprisoned by the impenetrable Tasmanian wilderness. What she finds there-what finds her-is Matt Sheedy, a man on the run, who saves her from certain death. Her precarious existence among volatile and murderous bushrangers is a different kind of hell and, surrounded by roaring rivers and towering columns of rock, hunted by soldiers and at the mercy of killers, Bridget finds herself in an impossible situation. In the face of terrible darkness, what will she have to do to survive?
A gripping and moving story of a woman's struggle for survival in a beautiful and brutal landscape, Bridget Crack is a unique and deeply accomplished novel by a rare talent.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 26, 2017
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August 3, 2017
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
*4.5 stars
An arresting and rousing story of the female convict experience in Van Diemen’s Land, in the early 1800’s, is the principal subject of new voice Rachel Leary’s first novel, Bridget Crack. This powerful historical fiction offering shows us how, in our not too distant past, survival in our new colony was a matter of pure endurance. Leary skilfully opens our eyes to the alluring but merciless landscape of early Tasmania that awaited our first settlers.
When a young woman by the name of Bridget Crack arrives on the shores of the newly established colony of Van Diemen’s Land, she is in awe of her new abode. The shock of this new life sets in when Bridget is first assigned to a position as a domestic servant. It does not take long for Bridget to earn the wrath of her employer for her apparent lack of subordination to the tasks that have been allocated to her. She is packed up from this position and is passed on from one place to another. Each situation seems to get progressively worse for our heroine. Then, Bridget lands herself in a truly awful place, a hell hole called the ‘Interior’. This is where the most hardened figures are sent. It is completely isolated and the poor souls who find themselves at this nightmare location are at the complete mercy of a cruel chief, who is focussed solely on making the convicts lives as miserable as possible. Bridget knows she will surely die at the Interior, as her spirit is slowly being broken down. She seizes the first opportunity she can to escape the Interior and falls into the company of a band of bushrangers. Initially, the bushrangers are a small form of comfort, but life on the run with the bushrangers is deeply dangerous and incredibly precarious. Bridget learns the brutal landscape of Van Diemen’s Land is as unforgivable as the figures that haunt her. It is a life that provides few options for a woman on the run, hence Bridget Crack must summon all the strength she can to survive.
It is always a lovely feeling to be introduced to a debut Australian female writer. It is an even better feeling when this new voice tackles a genre you love – Australian historical fiction. Bridget Crack is a strong literary fiction title and a truly remarkable addition to Australian bookshelves. Bridget Crack is a book that left me a little winded to be honest, the preciseness of the prose in this novel is definitely unique for a writer just making her entrance into the publishing world.
Rachel Leary writes with a steady and determined voice. I really admired her approach to Bridget Crack, it offers a reflective tone, stark in places but with an emphasis on historical detail. The prose is grounded in the literary genre and comes across as well refined, which is in fitting with the character, period and physical surroundings of the environment. Readers will notice that interactions in this novel are kept to a bare minimum, rather the setting and experiences of the main character speak volumes for this haunting story.
The sense of place is immediate and almost overwhelming from the outset of Bridget Crack. Leary’s imagery and pure setting descriptions bring to life an era in Australia’s past that was harsh and unforgiving. Through Leary, we are transported to the treacherous Van Diemen’s Land, a place populated by stunning mountain scenery and strange marsupials, but also convicts, bushrangers, soldiers and a handful of free settlers. Leary helps us see, through the eyes of Bridget, how tough life was at this time, if you were fortunate enough to survive such a time. Bridget’s experiences, especially when she is in the run with the bushrangers, is filled with moments of helplessness, pure terror and exhilaration, set against the backdrop of the wilds of Van Diemen’s Land. I was deeply impressed by the rich setting descriptions on behalf of Leary, she really seemed to capture the raw and contentious beauty of early Tasmania.
Bridget, our convict on the run, is the lead character in Rachael Leary’s novel. Supporting characters are kept at arm’s length, dipping in and out of the story with low overall impact on the narrative. This allows for Bridget’s gripping story to take centre stage. I quickly found myself caring deeply for Bridget’s welfare. I hoped that she would succeed relatively unscathed in each different situation in which she was placed. I found myself on edge each time Bridget was moved to a new location, the tension was set very high by Leary. When Bridget finally broke free and found herself lost in the wilderness, I felt relieved for a short time, but then the white knuckle feeling re-emerged as Bridget faced new threats to her survival. When Bridget joins forces with the bushrangers, headed by a complex figure by the name of Matt Sheedy, her mortality and safety as a young woman travelling with dangerous men comes under threat. Leary does a fine job of relaying the pure dread of Bridget’s situation with the bushrangers and she closes her novel off in a fitting manner.
For readers such as myself, who have a keen interest in Australian history and the female convict experience in areas of Australia, such as Tasmania, Bridget Crack is an accomplished title that works to perfectly sum up the conditions these women faced landing on our shores. A few years ago I was able to visit a former female factory in Tasmania, which housed convicts such as our lead, Bridget Crack would have similarly experienced. I was astounded by the conditions in which these women faced, just to survive on a day-to-day basis. It gave me an appreciation for the genuine battle for survival that our pioneering settlers faced. Bridget Crack is a novel that serves to remind us of where we came from, it was not an easy life, but many made what they could with what they were presented with. Bridget Crack is a thoughtful and historically well-informed novel that is an essential read for anyone with a passing interest in Australia’s past.
*I wish to thank Goodreads and the publisher, Allen & Unwin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
*4.5 stars
An arresting and rousing story of the female convict experience in Van Diemen’s Land, in the early 1800’s, is the principal subject of new voice Rachel Leary’s first novel, Bridget Crack. This powerful historical fiction offering shows us how, in our not too distant past, survival in our new colony was a matter of pure endurance. Leary skilfully opens our eyes to the alluring but merciless landscape of early Tasmania that awaited our first settlers.
When a young woman by the name of Bridget Crack arrives on the shores of the newly established colony of Van Diemen’s Land, she is in awe of her new abode. The shock of this new life sets in when Bridget is first assigned to a position as a domestic servant. It does not take long for Bridget to earn the wrath of her employer for her apparent lack of subordination to the tasks that have been allocated to her. She is packed up from this position and is passed on from one place to another. Each situation seems to get progressively worse for our heroine. Then, Bridget lands herself in a truly awful place, a hell hole called the ‘Interior’. This is where the most hardened figures are sent. It is completely isolated and the poor souls who find themselves at this nightmare location are at the complete mercy of a cruel chief, who is focussed solely on making the convicts lives as miserable as possible. Bridget knows she will surely die at the Interior, as her spirit is slowly being broken down. She seizes the first opportunity she can to escape the Interior and falls into the company of a band of bushrangers. Initially, the bushrangers are a small form of comfort, but life on the run with the bushrangers is deeply dangerous and incredibly precarious. Bridget learns the brutal landscape of Van Diemen’s Land is as unforgivable as the figures that haunt her. It is a life that provides few options for a woman on the run, hence Bridget Crack must summon all the strength she can to survive.
It is always a lovely feeling to be introduced to a debut Australian female writer. It is an even better feeling when this new voice tackles a genre you love – Australian historical fiction. Bridget Crack is a strong literary fiction title and a truly remarkable addition to Australian bookshelves. Bridget Crack is a book that left me a little winded to be honest, the preciseness of the prose in this novel is definitely unique for a writer just making her entrance into the publishing world.
Rachel Leary writes with a steady and determined voice. I really admired her approach to Bridget Crack, it offers a reflective tone, stark in places but with an emphasis on historical detail. The prose is grounded in the literary genre and comes across as well refined, which is in fitting with the character, period and physical surroundings of the environment. Readers will notice that interactions in this novel are kept to a bare minimum, rather the setting and experiences of the main character speak volumes for this haunting story.
The sense of place is immediate and almost overwhelming from the outset of Bridget Crack. Leary’s imagery and pure setting descriptions bring to life an era in Australia’s past that was harsh and unforgiving. Through Leary, we are transported to the treacherous Van Diemen’s Land, a place populated by stunning mountain scenery and strange marsupials, but also convicts, bushrangers, soldiers and a handful of free settlers. Leary helps us see, through the eyes of Bridget, how tough life was at this time, if you were fortunate enough to survive such a time. Bridget’s experiences, especially when she is in the run with the bushrangers, is filled with moments of helplessness, pure terror and exhilaration, set against the backdrop of the wilds of Van Diemen’s Land. I was deeply impressed by the rich setting descriptions on behalf of Leary, she really seemed to capture the raw and contentious beauty of early Tasmania.
Bridget, our convict on the run, is the lead character in Rachael Leary’s novel. Supporting characters are kept at arm’s length, dipping in and out of the story with low overall impact on the narrative. This allows for Bridget’s gripping story to take centre stage. I quickly found myself caring deeply for Bridget’s welfare. I hoped that she would succeed relatively unscathed in each different situation in which she was placed. I found myself on edge each time Bridget was moved to a new location, the tension was set very high by Leary. When Bridget finally broke free and found herself lost in the wilderness, I felt relieved for a short time, but then the white knuckle feeling re-emerged as Bridget faced new threats to her survival. When Bridget joins forces with the bushrangers, headed by a complex figure by the name of Matt Sheedy, her mortality and safety as a young woman travelling with dangerous men comes under threat. Leary does a fine job of relaying the pure dread of Bridget’s situation with the bushrangers and she closes her novel off in a fitting manner.
For readers such as myself, who have a keen interest in Australian history and the female convict experience in areas of Australia, such as Tasmania, Bridget Crack is an accomplished title that works to perfectly sum up the conditions these women faced landing on our shores. A few years ago I was able to visit a former female factory in Tasmania, which housed convicts such as our lead, Bridget Crack would have similarly experienced. I was astounded by the conditions in which these women faced, just to survive on a day-to-day basis. It gave me an appreciation for the genuine battle for survival that our pioneering settlers faced. Bridget Crack is a novel that serves to remind us of where we came from, it was not an easy life, but many made what they could with what they were presented with. Bridget Crack is a thoughtful and historically well-informed novel that is an essential read for anyone with a passing interest in Australia’s past.
*I wish to thank Goodreads and the publisher, Allen & Unwin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2017
Bridget Crack’s sadness at being torn from her homeland and sent to this vast, inhospitable landscape called Van Diemen’s Land mounted – her dissatisfaction and antagonistic nature would get her into far more trouble but her realisation would come too late to curb her ways.
After being sent to the “Interior” – the lonely and isolated centre of the country; covered in mountains, bush, wild animals and not much else – Bridget knew she couldn’t stay with her current master. Pigot was a cruel, vindictive man and she was determined to flee as soon as she had the chance. But worse was to come – much worse; the bushrangers who found her, lost and almost dead certainly saved her life – but was it worth it?
Life on the run was harsh and tormenting – no food, only what she could steal and knowing the soldiers were alert for her always. Survival became a day to day battle. What would happen to this convict woman alone in the brutal countryside of Van Diemen’s Land?
Bridget Crack is the debut novel by Aussie author Rachel Leary and the writing is vastly different in a vague and disjointed way. Set in the early nineteen hundreds when the colony of Van Diemen’s Land, later to become Tasmania, was only a fledgling state, life was hard for both settler and convict. But for someone like Bridget Crack, it was worse than hard. A novel that is historical as well as literary, I was disappointed to find I didn’t enjoy Bridget Crack as much as I expected to. But I would still recommend this novel as I am sure others will like it.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my uncorrected proof which I won in a competition.
After being sent to the “Interior” – the lonely and isolated centre of the country; covered in mountains, bush, wild animals and not much else – Bridget knew she couldn’t stay with her current master. Pigot was a cruel, vindictive man and she was determined to flee as soon as she had the chance. But worse was to come – much worse; the bushrangers who found her, lost and almost dead certainly saved her life – but was it worth it?
Life on the run was harsh and tormenting – no food, only what she could steal and knowing the soldiers were alert for her always. Survival became a day to day battle. What would happen to this convict woman alone in the brutal countryside of Van Diemen’s Land?
Bridget Crack is the debut novel by Aussie author Rachel Leary and the writing is vastly different in a vague and disjointed way. Set in the early nineteen hundreds when the colony of Van Diemen’s Land, later to become Tasmania, was only a fledgling state, life was hard for both settler and convict. But for someone like Bridget Crack, it was worse than hard. A novel that is historical as well as literary, I was disappointed to find I didn’t enjoy Bridget Crack as much as I expected to. But I would still recommend this novel as I am sure others will like it.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my uncorrected proof which I won in a competition.
September 18, 2017
‘Bridget stood on the boggy patch of ground looking up at the road.’
Van Diemen’s Land, 1826. Bridget Crack is a convict, transported for seven years for being in possession of counterfeit coins. Initially happy to reach dry land, Bridget does not settle to what is expected of her as an indentured domestic servant. Her first position, in the home of a British Army officer, is relatively comfortable but Bridget does not realise this. She is reassigned to another position and, warned about the master, behaves in a way which has her returned to the gaol. This time, Bridget’s hair is cut off as a punishment. When Bridget appears before the police magistrate, he orders that she be sent to the Interior.
‘She didn’t care: didn’t give a damn what they did to her. They could go to hell.’
Bridget is sent, miles from Hobart Town, to a hard life labouring for a cruel master. She decides to run away, to find the township of Jericho. But Bridget becomes lost.
‘At dawn she unfolded herself from the hole, stood shaky as a foal. The sky was a soft mewing grey, the air fat and ripe with the stink of life—the sharp perfume of plants, the heady sweetness of soil.’
She is saved from certain death by Matt Sheedy and his band of men. These men are bushrangers, desperate men, on the run from the law, with nothing but their lives to lose. They had tried to escape the colony by sea, and still hope to. In the meantime, they’ll take whatever they need from those they encounter along the way. Bridget’s presence creates tensions, but how can she escape when she doesn’t know where she is? The country is alien to her, full of danger. It doesn’t take long for the authorities to realise that Bridget is with the Sheedy gang, which leads to her inclusion on a proclamation by His Excellency Colonel George Arthur, Lieutenant Governor of the Island of Van Diemen’s Land and its Dependencies:
‘ … AND I DO HEREBY FURTHER PROCLAIM THAT any person who may apprehend Bridget Crack (5 ft. 3 in. light brown hair, green eyes, 21 years of age, arrived per Faith, native place Suffolk, absconded from Black Marsh, October 7, 1826) having absented herself from her usual place of residence and lately suspected to be in the company of the before named Offenders, will immediately receive from the Government the sum of Fifty Guineas, or (at their election) Fifty Acres of Land, free from all restrictions. And if the Offender shall be apprehended by prisoners, such prisoners shall receive a Free Pardon.’
Ms Leary has written an absorbing, atmospheric novel in which the landscape becomes central to Bridget’s story. There is no romance in this tale, just danger, difficulty, hardship and hunger. There can be no happy ending here, no escape for Bridget or her companions. Will it be the law, or the geography of the island which triumphs?
‘Above her the top of the escarpment was visible in the pitch-black—the rock in the night blacker than the sky. The river was running fast, chatty as a drunk priest.’
If you enjoy historical fiction set in 19th century colonial Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania), if you enjoy beautifully written novels exploring the interactions between those who are desperate and the harsh environment surrounding them, I recommend this novel. It’s not an easy world to explore, but Ms Leary brings both characters and the environment to life: I could see the tea-coloured river, hear the Devils screeching, feel Bridget’s hunger and the leeches.
This is Ms Leary’s first novel: I hope there will be others.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Van Diemen’s Land, 1826. Bridget Crack is a convict, transported for seven years for being in possession of counterfeit coins. Initially happy to reach dry land, Bridget does not settle to what is expected of her as an indentured domestic servant. Her first position, in the home of a British Army officer, is relatively comfortable but Bridget does not realise this. She is reassigned to another position and, warned about the master, behaves in a way which has her returned to the gaol. This time, Bridget’s hair is cut off as a punishment. When Bridget appears before the police magistrate, he orders that she be sent to the Interior.
‘She didn’t care: didn’t give a damn what they did to her. They could go to hell.’
Bridget is sent, miles from Hobart Town, to a hard life labouring for a cruel master. She decides to run away, to find the township of Jericho. But Bridget becomes lost.
‘At dawn she unfolded herself from the hole, stood shaky as a foal. The sky was a soft mewing grey, the air fat and ripe with the stink of life—the sharp perfume of plants, the heady sweetness of soil.’
She is saved from certain death by Matt Sheedy and his band of men. These men are bushrangers, desperate men, on the run from the law, with nothing but their lives to lose. They had tried to escape the colony by sea, and still hope to. In the meantime, they’ll take whatever they need from those they encounter along the way. Bridget’s presence creates tensions, but how can she escape when she doesn’t know where she is? The country is alien to her, full of danger. It doesn’t take long for the authorities to realise that Bridget is with the Sheedy gang, which leads to her inclusion on a proclamation by His Excellency Colonel George Arthur, Lieutenant Governor of the Island of Van Diemen’s Land and its Dependencies:
‘ … AND I DO HEREBY FURTHER PROCLAIM THAT any person who may apprehend Bridget Crack (5 ft. 3 in. light brown hair, green eyes, 21 years of age, arrived per Faith, native place Suffolk, absconded from Black Marsh, October 7, 1826) having absented herself from her usual place of residence and lately suspected to be in the company of the before named Offenders, will immediately receive from the Government the sum of Fifty Guineas, or (at their election) Fifty Acres of Land, free from all restrictions. And if the Offender shall be apprehended by prisoners, such prisoners shall receive a Free Pardon.’
Ms Leary has written an absorbing, atmospheric novel in which the landscape becomes central to Bridget’s story. There is no romance in this tale, just danger, difficulty, hardship and hunger. There can be no happy ending here, no escape for Bridget or her companions. Will it be the law, or the geography of the island which triumphs?
‘Above her the top of the escarpment was visible in the pitch-black—the rock in the night blacker than the sky. The river was running fast, chatty as a drunk priest.’
If you enjoy historical fiction set in 19th century colonial Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania), if you enjoy beautifully written novels exploring the interactions between those who are desperate and the harsh environment surrounding them, I recommend this novel. It’s not an easy world to explore, but Ms Leary brings both characters and the environment to life: I could see the tea-coloured river, hear the Devils screeching, feel Bridget’s hunger and the leeches.
This is Ms Leary’s first novel: I hope there will be others.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 6, 2017
This is a beautifully written debut novel that is truly Gothic in its portrayal of the wild Tasmanian landscape and in its depiction of the harsh years of early settlement.
Unfortunately for me, the novel loses much of its overall power through its overt reliance on sensory experience and description at the expense of character development and variation of tone. It's a very commendable, albeit bleak read within that increasingly familiar publishing phenomenon - the 'creative writing studies' novel. There is an essential sameness in 'Bridget Crack,' which I have encountered in other fictional outings of recent years: the intensely interior nature of the writing; a scant plot line and structure expressed through mood and sensation over concrete details and dialogue of varying minimalism, which may ( or may not ) accurately reflect the speech of the period.
Despite this, the novel succeeds through strong writing and sense of place. The protagonist is a solitary and ambiguous figure who holds the reader's attention and sympathy throughout and provides a strong contrast to the unfortunate and frequently monotonous supporting cast of individuals.
Unfortunately for me, the novel loses much of its overall power through its overt reliance on sensory experience and description at the expense of character development and variation of tone. It's a very commendable, albeit bleak read within that increasingly familiar publishing phenomenon - the 'creative writing studies' novel. There is an essential sameness in 'Bridget Crack,' which I have encountered in other fictional outings of recent years: the intensely interior nature of the writing; a scant plot line and structure expressed through mood and sensation over concrete details and dialogue of varying minimalism, which may ( or may not ) accurately reflect the speech of the period.
Despite this, the novel succeeds through strong writing and sense of place. The protagonist is a solitary and ambiguous figure who holds the reader's attention and sympathy throughout and provides a strong contrast to the unfortunate and frequently monotonous supporting cast of individuals.
November 9, 2022
4.5 stars
A fascinating insight into the harsh realities faced by convicts under the old penal system.
Van Dieman’s Land, early 1800s.
Bridget Crack, convict woman.
Bushrangers.
Convict Life. Tasmanian wilderness. Bleak and oft-times barbaric.
The daunting and rugged landscape creating a sense of misery.
The ground bitter cold.
An unforgiving land.
Bridget Crack is beautifully written.
Sparse dialogue - not much for it but in this case I loved it, the detailed and impressive descriptions make up for the minimal convo.
An absorbing and haunting tale.
A fascinating insight into the harsh realities faced by convicts under the old penal system.
Van Dieman’s Land, early 1800s.
Bridget Crack, convict woman.
Bushrangers.
Convict Life. Tasmanian wilderness. Bleak and oft-times barbaric.
The daunting and rugged landscape creating a sense of misery.
The ground bitter cold.
An unforgiving land.
Bridget Crack is beautifully written.
Sparse dialogue - not much for it but in this case I loved it, the detailed and impressive descriptions make up for the minimal convo.
An absorbing and haunting tale.
August 4, 2017
I'm still finding it quite hard to believe that Bridget Crack is Rachel Leary's first novel. She's no stranger to writing, having had a number of short stories and essays published, but even so, I was not prepared for such a stunning read from the hands of a debut author.
Bridget Crack is historical fiction written in literary prose, which makes it my favourite type of novel to read. There's something about historical fiction combining with literary fiction that just seems so right to me, especially in novels dealing with harsh themes set in the natural environment.
'The tea-coloured river roared through the forest. A waterfall ran down over rocks like stairs, a wash of white. Sunlight leaked through the canopy and down into the water, where it dazzled the rocks at the bottom of a pool.'
The vivid imagery; just gorgeous. To my delight, this novel was filled with such glorious prose, bringing this era and setting to life in a manner I have only rarely come by. It was reminiscent to me of Charles Frazier, particularly his Cold Mountain, a stand out novel that remains a favourite of mine even ten years after first reading it. There were shades of Alex Miller's Coal Creek as well. The simplistic beauty of the writing giving way to a deep truth on the subject matter, a common thread throughout each of these novels.
'Above her a white cloud broke apart, bits of it drifting away from each other. Killing itself into pieces. Killing itself into pieces to be free.'
This is a harsh novel. Harsh characters, living in a harsh manner, in a harsh environment. It's like a testimony of truth; colonial life in Van Diemen's Land, the way it really was. Forget any romanticised notions you might have of this era. Bush Rangers were not handsome heroes fighting some Robin Hood war; they were dangerous, filthy, rogue, and desperate, out for themselves and only in a gang out of necessity. Convicts were not bound for a new life; they were whipped, sold, jailed for the merest infringement, regularly raped if you were a woman, hung if you were a man. And if you were Aboriginal? You were in the way, trouble to eradicate. Life was not even all that great for the free settlers. Only the most hardy survived, the corrupt and the lucky. At the time in which this novel was set, 1826, tensions were crackling throughout this colony. It lacked the infrastructure to accomodate its expanding population and lacked the accessibility into the formidable interior terrain for it to be ultimately conquered.
Bridget Crack is an escaped convict who gets lost in the wilderness within hours of running away. She is rescued by a bush ranger named Matt Sheedy, who runs with three other bush rangers, all of them dangerous with bounties on their heads. Matt protects Bridget from the outset, but it quickly becomes apparent that he's protecting her so he can have her for himself. He's a complex character, Matt Sheedy. On the one hand, quite honourable. He won't allow violence against Aboriginals, animals, children, or women. But as time progresses and their situation becomes more dire, Matt's grip on his rage starts to slip, he becomes more desperate and less able to see an escape from the colony for them, so his treatment of Bridget deteriorates. There's not a lot of dialogue within this novel, Bridget hardly ever talks, but it's all of the 'unsaid' that makes the greatest impact. Likewise with the inferred actions; the lack of explicit descriptions had enormous impact. When on occasion there was explicit action, you were all the more shocked for it because it hadn't been overdone.
The Tasmanian wilderness proved to be as much of a character within this novel as the actual people. It both protected and harmed Bridget and her bush rangers; it was unforgiving, yet allowed a person to disappear into its embrace right when they needed to. This was a time when Thylacines still roamed the forest; when Devils screeched through the night and would attempt to eat you if you laid still long enough for them to try. Rivers and endless rain and mud; leeches filling your boots; hollowed out trees so large the inside of their trunks were big enough to fit four people and their stolen booty. It was a place where people could disappear for years or die within days. And on account of Rachel's vivid prose, you could imagine it all so perfectly.
I felt quite absorbed by Bridget Crack. I could barely put the novel down. She was a tough young woman; a survivor and a warrior. I feel this novel is possibly an account of all the women who arrived on the shores of Van Diemen's Land and decided they were not going to bow down and take it anymore.
Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of Bridget Crack for review.
Bridget Crack is book 47 in my 2017 Australian Women Writers Challenge.
Bridget Crack is historical fiction written in literary prose, which makes it my favourite type of novel to read. There's something about historical fiction combining with literary fiction that just seems so right to me, especially in novels dealing with harsh themes set in the natural environment.
'The tea-coloured river roared through the forest. A waterfall ran down over rocks like stairs, a wash of white. Sunlight leaked through the canopy and down into the water, where it dazzled the rocks at the bottom of a pool.'
The vivid imagery; just gorgeous. To my delight, this novel was filled with such glorious prose, bringing this era and setting to life in a manner I have only rarely come by. It was reminiscent to me of Charles Frazier, particularly his Cold Mountain, a stand out novel that remains a favourite of mine even ten years after first reading it. There were shades of Alex Miller's Coal Creek as well. The simplistic beauty of the writing giving way to a deep truth on the subject matter, a common thread throughout each of these novels.
'Above her a white cloud broke apart, bits of it drifting away from each other. Killing itself into pieces. Killing itself into pieces to be free.'
This is a harsh novel. Harsh characters, living in a harsh manner, in a harsh environment. It's like a testimony of truth; colonial life in Van Diemen's Land, the way it really was. Forget any romanticised notions you might have of this era. Bush Rangers were not handsome heroes fighting some Robin Hood war; they were dangerous, filthy, rogue, and desperate, out for themselves and only in a gang out of necessity. Convicts were not bound for a new life; they were whipped, sold, jailed for the merest infringement, regularly raped if you were a woman, hung if you were a man. And if you were Aboriginal? You were in the way, trouble to eradicate. Life was not even all that great for the free settlers. Only the most hardy survived, the corrupt and the lucky. At the time in which this novel was set, 1826, tensions were crackling throughout this colony. It lacked the infrastructure to accomodate its expanding population and lacked the accessibility into the formidable interior terrain for it to be ultimately conquered.
Bridget Crack is an escaped convict who gets lost in the wilderness within hours of running away. She is rescued by a bush ranger named Matt Sheedy, who runs with three other bush rangers, all of them dangerous with bounties on their heads. Matt protects Bridget from the outset, but it quickly becomes apparent that he's protecting her so he can have her for himself. He's a complex character, Matt Sheedy. On the one hand, quite honourable. He won't allow violence against Aboriginals, animals, children, or women. But as time progresses and their situation becomes more dire, Matt's grip on his rage starts to slip, he becomes more desperate and less able to see an escape from the colony for them, so his treatment of Bridget deteriorates. There's not a lot of dialogue within this novel, Bridget hardly ever talks, but it's all of the 'unsaid' that makes the greatest impact. Likewise with the inferred actions; the lack of explicit descriptions had enormous impact. When on occasion there was explicit action, you were all the more shocked for it because it hadn't been overdone.
The Tasmanian wilderness proved to be as much of a character within this novel as the actual people. It both protected and harmed Bridget and her bush rangers; it was unforgiving, yet allowed a person to disappear into its embrace right when they needed to. This was a time when Thylacines still roamed the forest; when Devils screeched through the night and would attempt to eat you if you laid still long enough for them to try. Rivers and endless rain and mud; leeches filling your boots; hollowed out trees so large the inside of their trunks were big enough to fit four people and their stolen booty. It was a place where people could disappear for years or die within days. And on account of Rachel's vivid prose, you could imagine it all so perfectly.
I felt quite absorbed by Bridget Crack. I could barely put the novel down. She was a tough young woman; a survivor and a warrior. I feel this novel is possibly an account of all the women who arrived on the shores of Van Diemen's Land and decided they were not going to bow down and take it anymore.
Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of Bridget Crack for review.
Bridget Crack is book 47 in my 2017 Australian Women Writers Challenge.
July 16, 2017
Well what can I say. I was looking forward to reading this book as I live in Tassie and thought it might be a bit historical. But I must say I was bitterly disappointed. The book read more like one long poem. It didn't flow well and the story had no real substance.
I know that books are written in a way that we as a reader can picture scenes, people and places but I think this was overly descriptive which didn't really make for a good storyline.
There were parts of the story that started to gain my interest only to be disappointed again as I read about yet another hut, another river, another forest, another convict.
It just didn't work for me at all!
I know that books are written in a way that we as a reader can picture scenes, people and places but I think this was overly descriptive which didn't really make for a good storyline.
There were parts of the story that started to gain my interest only to be disappointed again as I read about yet another hut, another river, another forest, another convict.
It just didn't work for me at all!
December 18, 2019
Very impressed by this dark Gothic-like tale of an absconded female convict and her adventures and trials in the Tasmanian wilderness. This is one of those novels where the landscape is so evocative that it is like a character in the book.
While there are very few accounts of female bushrangers in Australia, one ABC article revealed there was something like 27,000 reports of absconded female convicts in the Hobart Newspaper during the time of transportation in Van Diemen's Land. Seems highly likely there may have been one or two who survived on the fringes of the colony amongst other bushrangers.
On a personal note there was an actual Bridget Crack who was a convict transported to Van Dieman's Land on the same ships that a convict ancestor of mine arrived on. There are many accounts of his life however Bridget Crack's life is unknown and fictionalised here.
An excellent debut novel, I'll be looking out for more of this authors work in future.
While there are very few accounts of female bushrangers in Australia, one ABC article revealed there was something like 27,000 reports of absconded female convicts in the Hobart Newspaper during the time of transportation in Van Diemen's Land. Seems highly likely there may have been one or two who survived on the fringes of the colony amongst other bushrangers.
On a personal note there was an actual Bridget Crack who was a convict transported to Van Dieman's Land on the same ships that a convict ancestor of mine arrived on. There are many accounts of his life however Bridget Crack's life is unknown and fictionalised here.
An excellent debut novel, I'll be looking out for more of this authors work in future.
April 9, 2018
While sparse description can sometimes be powerful this is not such a case. There is so little characterization or building of the main characters that they emerge as some of the flattest I have ever read.
I have recently read a number of books written by and/or set in Tasmania in several time periods and there has been some extraordinary work. If you want a deep and haunting glimpse of colonial Tasmanian life read "The Roving Party".
I have recently read a number of books written by and/or set in Tasmania in several time periods and there has been some extraordinary work. If you want a deep and haunting glimpse of colonial Tasmanian life read "The Roving Party".
February 21, 2018
3 1/2 stars. A poignant portrayal of a convict woman in Tasmania. An atmospheric story that makes you feel the desperation of not just Bridget, but all the convicts, whether male or female, and the harshness of the landscape as well as the cruelty of the masters. A sad reminder of our brutal history but there is enough glimpses of humanity and strength of character that keeps the novel being moving.
January 15, 2020
What I liked about this story of convict life in 1826 Van Diemen’s Land is the viewpoint is from a woman. Bridget endures the brutal conditions with subtle elements revealing the difference. Her clothes - torn muddy hems drastically affected her ability to escape through thick bush and steep, slippery slopes. Her thoughts and emotions, expressed internally as an insignificant female. Every male in her life is a threat, she’s ‘protected’ by being owned as a female by bush ranger Matt, who freely assaults and abandons her from time to time. Her work- it’s backbreaking physical work well beyond her capability. On the other hand, male mates leave her alone in danger for unknown lengths of time . It’s a terrible life. The author writes very powerfully about the natural landscape, which forms much of the gruelling story on every page of the book.
September 19, 2017
3.5 Stars.
I'm not going to lie - it did take me a while to get into this novel. Initially I found it hard to get into the authors writing. Once I had read half of the book I really did start to enjoy the novel and the writing. The author's writing really did add character to the whole story, which I only started to appreciate once I was half way through the book.
The book follows Bridget Crack's journey of being a convict in Van Dieman's Land in 1826. Her story takes us through the life of being domestic servant, moving from place to place with life getting harder and harder - Bridget finally decides to leave. Bridget finds herself escaping into the brutal wilderness where she encounters being taken in by bush rangers and therefore being on the run from the soldiers.
Rachel Leary provides a very in depth perception of life on the run in the brutal wilderness, a story with many twists and turns and is a great Australia Historical Fiction novel.
I'm not going to lie - it did take me a while to get into this novel. Initially I found it hard to get into the authors writing. Once I had read half of the book I really did start to enjoy the novel and the writing. The author's writing really did add character to the whole story, which I only started to appreciate once I was half way through the book.
The book follows Bridget Crack's journey of being a convict in Van Dieman's Land in 1826. Her story takes us through the life of being domestic servant, moving from place to place with life getting harder and harder - Bridget finally decides to leave. Bridget finds herself escaping into the brutal wilderness where she encounters being taken in by bush rangers and therefore being on the run from the soldiers.
Rachel Leary provides a very in depth perception of life on the run in the brutal wilderness, a story with many twists and turns and is a great Australia Historical Fiction novel.
August 14, 2017
I got this uncorrected proof from Goodreads giveaways.
I have mixed feelings about this book. For a first novel it's not bad. It's very descriptive and the author is very good at describing the landscape in a poetic way, but there is quite a lot of it. It can be very hard to follow in places, a bit vague so you really don't know what is going on some of the time.
It does portray very well how hard times were for the convicts and first settlers and how harsh the Tasmanian bush is. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading to see what would happen to Bridget , but the ending was a disappointment as I don't really know what happened to her - quite confusing.
Thank you for the chance to read this book.
I have mixed feelings about this book. For a first novel it's not bad. It's very descriptive and the author is very good at describing the landscape in a poetic way, but there is quite a lot of it. It can be very hard to follow in places, a bit vague so you really don't know what is going on some of the time.
It does portray very well how hard times were for the convicts and first settlers and how harsh the Tasmanian bush is. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading to see what would happen to Bridget , but the ending was a disappointment as I don't really know what happened to her - quite confusing.
Thank you for the chance to read this book.
April 2, 2019
3.5, but closer to a 4 than a 3.
TWs: spousal abuse; familial abuse; sexual abuse; miscarriage; deaths of indigenous persons; deaths of indigenous persons in custody; animal deaths; animal abuse...I can’t think what else.
Bridget Crack is the kind of book that I didn’t really appreciate until I’d finished it; at that moment when you close the book, think back, and go “Damn!”
So much story line was alluded to, yet not explicitly worded on the page.
The main character, Bridget, was truly unlikeable, but the characters surrounding and supporting her kept pulling me through the book, past my usual 50, and then 100 page DNF marks. I would love a whole book on Captain Marshall and his sister, Jane.
There’s no colonial convict-bushranger romance here - all of Bridget’s relationships are abusive. And while the Captain’s sister, Jane, is painted as an abolitionist\suffragist figure, her idea of supporting the indigenous peoples is firmly rooted in colonial society.
The depiction of indigenous peoples is definitely lacking, and what there is is, of course, seen through the White lens. Bridget, Captain Marshall and Jane all, in their own ways, sympathise with the indigenous peoples but feel, or are, powerless to change things. Be warned, there is one particular depiction of the apparent rape of a minor indigenous girl and several references to the deaths of indigenous persons, especially in custody.
This was a hard book to enjoy, or even like, but it was still very well written, and I’m glad I finished it.
TWs: spousal abuse; familial abuse; sexual abuse; miscarriage; deaths of indigenous persons; deaths of indigenous persons in custody; animal deaths; animal abuse...I can’t think what else.
Bridget Crack is the kind of book that I didn’t really appreciate until I’d finished it; at that moment when you close the book, think back, and go “Damn!”
So much story line was alluded to, yet not explicitly worded on the page.
The main character, Bridget, was truly unlikeable, but the characters surrounding and supporting her kept pulling me through the book, past my usual 50, and then 100 page DNF marks. I would love a whole book on Captain Marshall and his sister, Jane.
There’s no colonial convict-bushranger romance here - all of Bridget’s relationships are abusive. And while the Captain’s sister, Jane, is painted as an abolitionist\suffragist figure, her idea of supporting the indigenous peoples is firmly rooted in colonial society.
The depiction of indigenous peoples is definitely lacking, and what there is is, of course, seen through the White lens. Bridget, Captain Marshall and Jane all, in their own ways, sympathise with the indigenous peoples but feel, or are, powerless to change things. Be warned, there is one particular depiction of the apparent rape of a minor indigenous girl and several references to the deaths of indigenous persons, especially in custody.
This was a hard book to enjoy, or even like, but it was still very well written, and I’m glad I finished it.
February 4, 2018
With a turn of phrase as harsh as the Tasmanian elements, Rachel Leary uses words sparsely. She tears meat from sinew, leaving her sentences like bare bones, at once confronting, daringly sharp.
From the beginning I followed in Bridget's direction, following, always following, only to find at story's end, that I was left with a rather melancholy anti-climax. There was no purpose, no plot, just a monotonous journey through unforgiving wet scrub, like rain with no respite
There is a madness that comes from hunger, both spiritual as well as physical. In this respect, Leary portrays the angst well. She ekes out the ugly in humanity, coarse as rough rum.
In some respects I came to the conclusion with relief. But it was not like I had finally been given a good meal. On the contrary, the author sent me to bed hungry, and I closed the book on the last page without repletion.
I would have had Bridget suck the marrow out of life, but the forces of nature and the wilderness, held Bridget Crack every bit as captive as the constabulary she feared.
From the beginning I followed in Bridget's direction, following, always following, only to find at story's end, that I was left with a rather melancholy anti-climax. There was no purpose, no plot, just a monotonous journey through unforgiving wet scrub, like rain with no respite
There is a madness that comes from hunger, both spiritual as well as physical. In this respect, Leary portrays the angst well. She ekes out the ugly in humanity, coarse as rough rum.
In some respects I came to the conclusion with relief. But it was not like I had finally been given a good meal. On the contrary, the author sent me to bed hungry, and I closed the book on the last page without repletion.
I would have had Bridget suck the marrow out of life, but the forces of nature and the wilderness, held Bridget Crack every bit as captive as the constabulary she feared.
January 21, 2018
the storyline was good but I didn't enjoy the disjointed writing which made me go back at times to check that I'd got the story right
October 30, 2017
A female convict on the run in the Tasmanian wilderness in 1826? It doesn’t sound very likely, does it? But debut novelist Rachel Leary has managed to create a wholly convincing novel out of this inversion of the Intransigent Convict trope, and it’s breath-taking reading.
It’s historical fiction, but not as we might know it. While her style is different, in impact Bridget Crack is more like Rohan Wilson’s disconcertingly powerful duo The Roving Party and To Name Those Lost, also set in colonial Van Diemen’s Land when the new society being created is confronting both the hostile forces of the Indigenous owners of the land and the harsh environment. As in Wilson’s novels, the moral choices of Leary’s novel are trapped by pragmatism.
Everything is against Bridget. The pugnacious landscape, the cruel weather, the entire apparatus of the convict system – and her gender, which makes her doubly vulnerable because of the attentions of men in a society where women are scarce and mostly there for the taking. Psychologically, she’s ill-equipped for survival in a place where she is dependent on others for fundamentals like food and shelter: she’s impatient, impulsive and intolerant. She’s also poignantly naïve. Her initial placement is as an indentured servant in a comparatively benign Hobart residence, but – not knowing what to expect and having no idea about the realities of this crude, violent society – she finds it intolerable. It’s her own intransigence that lands her in a Hobart gaol for insubordination and thereafter on assignment to the interior far from any kind of rescue. Faced with a horrible man who lied to the authorities about having a wife so that he could be assigned a female servant, and who lets his other servant die without a qualm, Bridget runs away into the bush. Her naïveté shows in the theft of the items she takes with her: she takes no provision for water.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/10/30/b...
It’s historical fiction, but not as we might know it. While her style is different, in impact Bridget Crack is more like Rohan Wilson’s disconcertingly powerful duo The Roving Party and To Name Those Lost, also set in colonial Van Diemen’s Land when the new society being created is confronting both the hostile forces of the Indigenous owners of the land and the harsh environment. As in Wilson’s novels, the moral choices of Leary’s novel are trapped by pragmatism.
Everything is against Bridget. The pugnacious landscape, the cruel weather, the entire apparatus of the convict system – and her gender, which makes her doubly vulnerable because of the attentions of men in a society where women are scarce and mostly there for the taking. Psychologically, she’s ill-equipped for survival in a place where she is dependent on others for fundamentals like food and shelter: she’s impatient, impulsive and intolerant. She’s also poignantly naïve. Her initial placement is as an indentured servant in a comparatively benign Hobart residence, but – not knowing what to expect and having no idea about the realities of this crude, violent society – she finds it intolerable. It’s her own intransigence that lands her in a Hobart gaol for insubordination and thereafter on assignment to the interior far from any kind of rescue. Faced with a horrible man who lied to the authorities about having a wife so that he could be assigned a female servant, and who lets his other servant die without a qualm, Bridget runs away into the bush. Her naïveté shows in the theft of the items she takes with her: she takes no provision for water.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/10/30/b...
August 9, 2017
This book was gifted to me through Goodreads giveaways to read and review.
I have to say that at the beginning I found it a little hard to follow the story, it was written so differently to the very descriptive and often wordy books I have read of late. A unique writing style with no indication this is a debut work. Often sentences are short and snappy, sometimes minimalistic, but they convey the message clearly without added and often unnecessary flourishes or embellishments some authors favour. A few chapters in I settled into the story and did not put the book down until I reached the last page.
Set in a time when Colonisation was starting to spread its reach further across the Australian continent this is a tale of a young woman who finds herself a victim of circumstance, shipped off to Australia as a convict and all that befalls her as a result of that fateful journey. Throughout the pages we are made aware of the treatment of convicts and their total susceptibility to whom ever held their work contracts while, at the same time, we are made aware of some of the issues facing Indigenous people as more Europeans arrived and began settling on Indigenous lands.
A very enjoyable read.
I have to say that at the beginning I found it a little hard to follow the story, it was written so differently to the very descriptive and often wordy books I have read of late. A unique writing style with no indication this is a debut work. Often sentences are short and snappy, sometimes minimalistic, but they convey the message clearly without added and often unnecessary flourishes or embellishments some authors favour. A few chapters in I settled into the story and did not put the book down until I reached the last page.
Set in a time when Colonisation was starting to spread its reach further across the Australian continent this is a tale of a young woman who finds herself a victim of circumstance, shipped off to Australia as a convict and all that befalls her as a result of that fateful journey. Throughout the pages we are made aware of the treatment of convicts and their total susceptibility to whom ever held their work contracts while, at the same time, we are made aware of some of the issues facing Indigenous people as more Europeans arrived and began settling on Indigenous lands.
A very enjoyable read.
February 7, 2018
An immersive and brutal story of convict life in Van Diemen's Land. Well realised, but I feel like this ground has been pretty well trodden.
September 8, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. The ending was sublime and the author kept me intrigued along the way. Bridget is an unusual character and comes alive in the Tasmanian wilderness of the time. Highly recommended. I won a copy of this novel in a Goodreads giveaway.
July 8, 2017
I received an ARC of this book for free in a goodreads giveaway.
A vivid tale of the titular convict who clashes with the convict life, and flees for the wilderness of Van Diemen's Land. Mostly compelling, and with hardly a sign to let you know this is a debut (you know how some books scream that out). Some descriptions drag on, repeating the same thing but in different words, which is a real pet peeve of mine, but apart from that the prose itself is fine. Assured, really, not giving us more about the characters than we need. Some of the strongest impressions come from the silences, the slow minimal gestures, or the way someone reacts or doesn't react to an event.
Often the narrative jumps ahead, sometimes filling in the blanks later, sometimes not. Most of the time this works, but occasionally it doesn't. Supporting characters appear and disappear and the majority of them are interchangeable. Mostly this works in the book's favour, creating a haze and showing us how little genuine interaction there can be in this environment. Sometimes, less often, it's just confusing.
It's in the quiet moments, mostly with Bridget alone (or with Sully, that section was a highlight), that Bridget Crack really shines, showing us the sublime nature of that landscape and what it means to exist in its shadows.
A vivid tale of the titular convict who clashes with the convict life, and flees for the wilderness of Van Diemen's Land. Mostly compelling, and with hardly a sign to let you know this is a debut (you know how some books scream that out). Some descriptions drag on, repeating the same thing but in different words, which is a real pet peeve of mine, but apart from that the prose itself is fine. Assured, really, not giving us more about the characters than we need. Some of the strongest impressions come from the silences, the slow minimal gestures, or the way someone reacts or doesn't react to an event.
Often the narrative jumps ahead, sometimes filling in the blanks later, sometimes not. Most of the time this works, but occasionally it doesn't. Supporting characters appear and disappear and the majority of them are interchangeable. Mostly this works in the book's favour, creating a haze and showing us how little genuine interaction there can be in this environment. Sometimes, less often, it's just confusing.
It's in the quiet moments, mostly with Bridget alone (or with Sully, that section was a highlight), that Bridget Crack really shines, showing us the sublime nature of that landscape and what it means to exist in its shadows.
August 18, 2017
Bridget Crack (2017), Rachel Leary, read over the past 2 nights.
Bridget Crack is a fictional account of real convict Bridget Crack in Van Diemen's Land 1826, and her life, as a female convict, and on the run with bushrangers. It is also based on real events involving real bushrangers.
I went to Fullers Bookshop just recently and saw a discussion with the author.
Reading this book while living in Tasmania was very interesting. The wilderness has not changed all that much since 1826. The weather has not got any better, although apparently there was much more rain on the east coast in 1826. The other differences were that the 'settlers' interactions with the aboriginals were a significant feature of the book, and there was much more wildlife, including that Bridget described a meeting that she had with a Thylacine (see highlight from book below).
Some parts of the book that I highlighted while reading:
'When they came to the corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool streets he stopped next to a black carriage, four horses harnessed to it. 'Wait here.' He went into a brick building the carriage was parked near.'
'Marshall stood bhind the women on the rocks at the top of the beach. The boats in the cove were still today, not a trace of rocking in their hulls. Mrs Bainbridge moved her parasol to the side, leaned back. 'It's a darling little sandy bay, Mr Marshall. Wouldn't you say? I am most glad to have come upon it.'
'Yes, indeed. Indeed it is.''
'They came back a while later. 'Wild dog,' Matt muttered, leaning the gun against the cave wall. she had seen them in the night, the brown dogs with stripes and a long snout. Once one had come close to her. She'd sat completely still, willing the thing to go away. It sniffed her boot, looked behind it into the night then walked off, her breath coming out of her as it went.'
Bridget Crack is a fictional account of real convict Bridget Crack in Van Diemen's Land 1826, and her life, as a female convict, and on the run with bushrangers. It is also based on real events involving real bushrangers.
I went to Fullers Bookshop just recently and saw a discussion with the author.
Reading this book while living in Tasmania was very interesting. The wilderness has not changed all that much since 1826. The weather has not got any better, although apparently there was much more rain on the east coast in 1826. The other differences were that the 'settlers' interactions with the aboriginals were a significant feature of the book, and there was much more wildlife, including that Bridget described a meeting that she had with a Thylacine (see highlight from book below).
Some parts of the book that I highlighted while reading:
'When they came to the corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool streets he stopped next to a black carriage, four horses harnessed to it. 'Wait here.' He went into a brick building the carriage was parked near.'
'Marshall stood bhind the women on the rocks at the top of the beach. The boats in the cove were still today, not a trace of rocking in their hulls. Mrs Bainbridge moved her parasol to the side, leaned back. 'It's a darling little sandy bay, Mr Marshall. Wouldn't you say? I am most glad to have come upon it.'
'Yes, indeed. Indeed it is.''
'They came back a while later. 'Wild dog,' Matt muttered, leaning the gun against the cave wall. she had seen them in the night, the brown dogs with stripes and a long snout. Once one had come close to her. She'd sat completely still, willing the thing to go away. It sniffed her boot, looked behind it into the night then walked off, her breath coming out of her as it went.'
August 24, 2017
a great companion read to The Secret River. The tough life of a convict, and in this case particularly for a woman, constantly a chattel. This book exudes dark fugitive desperate energy. a wonderful insight.
August 25, 2017
A well written novel. Descriptions were well done and very vivid. The novel gives the reader a real sense of living through Australia's convict era. A solid 3 1/2 stars for this novel.
August 17, 2017
An interesting look at convicts and bush rangers from the settlement days of Tasmania. Explaining the wild life and landscape in a very descriptive way. I found it to be almost poetic in some parts of the book and I found the ending as I expected it to be, however just not written the way I thought it would be. I won this as part of a good reads giveaway and enjoyed it.
June 18, 2019
1 star.
1 star because I finished it. I shouldn't have. I should have just walked away. I'm so mad. What was the point? What was the point of it? Was there a plot?
Really it was more of a character study. I guess. I don't know anything about her character except that she literally cannot do a single task from beginning to end and it gets her into so much trouble. I've never seen a character like this before. Everything she starts, after a while she just stands up and walks off. She must walk almost the entire fucking breadth of Tasmania just to turn around and stagger back again. Why? What for?
Marshall must be the most useless piece of listless unmotivated flaccid white bread I have ever read. No wonder his wife and sister are furious at him all the time. Is he anaemic? Does he suffer from chronic fatigue? Why does he keep falling in love with his maids when they're just trying to go about their business? Stop staring at them!
Anyway. I'm sorry. I just don't get it. The other reviews suggest that many many other people were into it. You might be like them.
1 star because I finished it. I shouldn't have. I should have just walked away. I'm so mad. What was the point? What was the point of it? Was there a plot?
Really it was more of a character study. I guess. I don't know anything about her character except that she literally cannot do a single task from beginning to end and it gets her into so much trouble. I've never seen a character like this before. Everything she starts, after a while she just stands up and walks off. She must walk almost the entire fucking breadth of Tasmania just to turn around and stagger back again. Why? What for?
Marshall must be the most useless piece of listless unmotivated flaccid white bread I have ever read. No wonder his wife and sister are furious at him all the time. Is he anaemic? Does he suffer from chronic fatigue? Why does he keep falling in love with his maids when they're just trying to go about their business? Stop staring at them!
Anyway. I'm sorry. I just don't get it. The other reviews suggest that many many other people were into it. You might be like them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2017
Loved it. An amazing book. Perfectly executed Hauntingly beautiful. I'm still thinking about Bridget Crack a week after I read the last page.
June 5, 2018
'Bridget Crack' is a brooding and convincing evocation of Van Diemen's Land in 1823. Violence and despair fissure the lives of all who live there - convicts, settlers, officials and indigenous Tasmanians. Leary's sparse dialogue and especially her description of setting are outstanding. The main character, Bridget Crack, is a tenacious convict woman, traumatised by transportation and her subsequent experiences of abuse. But therein lies the problem for me as a reader. Bridget seems to have shut off her emotions and capacity to communicate to such an extent that I didn't feel them either. Her lines of dialogue in the novel would barely fill a double page. It seems as if the novel is asking the landscape to do the emotional heavy-lifting, and beautifully lyrical as some of the descriptive passages are, they're ultimately cold and empty.
November 13, 2017
Bridget Crack is a convict currently employed by a cruel and indifferent master on an isolated parcel of land in Van Diemen’s Land. When his treatment reaches breaking point, Bridget leaves to report him to the authorities. But she becomes lost in the wilderness and struggles to survive – until she stumbles over a gang of bushrangers, led by the volatile Matt Sheedy. In the midst of criminals and formidable bushland, Bridget keeps fighting – but what lengths must she take to survive?
When I first heard about Rachael Leary’s debut novel, Bridget Crack, my reaction was a mix of “!!!” and “shut up and take my money”. Bushrangers, wilderness, Tasmania, elements of Tasmanian gothic and convicts – someone had to have been peeking at my Christmas list. And then I ended up winning an ARC off GoodReads so it was like several Christmases all at once.
And let’s make no mistake: Bridget Crack is a beautiful book. The characters are intriguing and supremely complicated – you can never safely sort them into categories like ‘sympathetic’, ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘dangerous’, or ‘reliable’. Leary keeps them continuously shifting, characters made mad by their treatment and their landscapes, but ultimately responsible for their own actions.
The prose is great – there’s beauty there, but it’s often blunt, sometimes brutal which suits the character of Bridget and the world she inhabits to a T. The text is definitely readable and engaging.
However, I felt that this book could be – and deserved to be – much better than it was. The ingredients are all there – story, writer, characters, setting – it just needed something to move it from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’. And I think what that ‘something’ is a big picture edit.
The structure was the weakest part of the book. It was a bit all over the place – it’s largely chronological, but it does jump forward and back in time often, sometimes in the extreme. For example, it’s towards the end that Bridget recalls why she was transported to Van Diemen’s Land – at a point where it doesn’t really matter to the story, where I’m so invested in the story that it’s almost jarring to be called away from the action to go into a flashback sequence.
Although primarily told from the point-of-view of Bridget, Leary introduces the character of Captain Marshall – Bridget’s one time employer, who may or may not be partly in love with her, a man torn between what’s right and his position in the fledgling colony. While Marshall’s segments allow for the reader to grasp the forces arrayed against Bridget and his character is interesting, his first segment comes in fairly late in the novel and I wonder if it would’ve been better if he’d been brought in earlier as a POV character or left out entirely.
This muddled structure also meant that the characters – of which there were many - were hard to keep track off. The novel also moves at a cracking pace – too cracking, at times. I wanted to linger in the world a bit more and instead it felt like I was being rushed through.
Overall, Bridget Crack is an engaging read, with great writing and complicated characters. There are some weaknesses – most notably, the structure – but the strengths are far greater than the weaknesses. It might not have been the dream book drawn from my Christmas list, but it got close. I genuinely enjoyed it and would recommend. 3.75 stars.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC through a giveaway on GoodReads. I was not obligated to review. My review is of the ARC and does not necessarily reflect the final print version.
When I first heard about Rachael Leary’s debut novel, Bridget Crack, my reaction was a mix of “!!!” and “shut up and take my money”. Bushrangers, wilderness, Tasmania, elements of Tasmanian gothic and convicts – someone had to have been peeking at my Christmas list. And then I ended up winning an ARC off GoodReads so it was like several Christmases all at once.
And let’s make no mistake: Bridget Crack is a beautiful book. The characters are intriguing and supremely complicated – you can never safely sort them into categories like ‘sympathetic’, ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘dangerous’, or ‘reliable’. Leary keeps them continuously shifting, characters made mad by their treatment and their landscapes, but ultimately responsible for their own actions.
The prose is great – there’s beauty there, but it’s often blunt, sometimes brutal which suits the character of Bridget and the world she inhabits to a T. The text is definitely readable and engaging.
However, I felt that this book could be – and deserved to be – much better than it was. The ingredients are all there – story, writer, characters, setting – it just needed something to move it from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’. And I think what that ‘something’ is a big picture edit.
The structure was the weakest part of the book. It was a bit all over the place – it’s largely chronological, but it does jump forward and back in time often, sometimes in the extreme. For example, it’s towards the end that Bridget recalls why she was transported to Van Diemen’s Land – at a point where it doesn’t really matter to the story, where I’m so invested in the story that it’s almost jarring to be called away from the action to go into a flashback sequence.
Although primarily told from the point-of-view of Bridget, Leary introduces the character of Captain Marshall – Bridget’s one time employer, who may or may not be partly in love with her, a man torn between what’s right and his position in the fledgling colony. While Marshall’s segments allow for the reader to grasp the forces arrayed against Bridget and his character is interesting, his first segment comes in fairly late in the novel and I wonder if it would’ve been better if he’d been brought in earlier as a POV character or left out entirely.
This muddled structure also meant that the characters – of which there were many - were hard to keep track off. The novel also moves at a cracking pace – too cracking, at times. I wanted to linger in the world a bit more and instead it felt like I was being rushed through.
Overall, Bridget Crack is an engaging read, with great writing and complicated characters. There are some weaknesses – most notably, the structure – but the strengths are far greater than the weaknesses. It might not have been the dream book drawn from my Christmas list, but it got close. I genuinely enjoyed it and would recommend. 3.75 stars.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC through a giveaway on GoodReads. I was not obligated to review. My review is of the ARC and does not necessarily reflect the final print version.
December 12, 2025
Bridget Crack by Rachel Leary is a book that I really wanted to love. It had the promise of everything I love, Tasmanian history, wilderness and the rawness that is needed for survival in the Tasmanian landscape but unfortunately this novel fell short for me.
Set in Van Diemen’s Land in 1826, Bridget Crack follows a young convict whose defiance sees her punished and eventually sent to the brutal “Interior,” a remote outpost ruled by a cruel master. When she escapes into the harsh Tasmanian wilderness, she’s found by bushranger Matt Sheedy and drawn into an even more dangerous life on the run. Hunted by soldiers and trapped by the unforgiving landscape, Bridget faces impossible choices in her fight to survive.
Rachel Leary has written a beautiful atmospheric story. I enjoyed the bushranger sections of the story and found myself genuinely intrigued by the historical parts that I found myself googling to see whether the bushrangers mentioned were real people or fictionalised versions of real people.
Throughout the novel I could really feel Bridget’s despair. As a female convict she was trapped, vulnerable, and painfully aware that no matter where she ran, the authorities would eventually catch up. I could feel her fear and frustration, and the hopelessness of being a woman with nowhere safe to go in an unforgiving land. Where this novel feel short for me was as someone who has strong Tasmanian geographical knowledge I felt at times I was “roving” through the landscape. This left me feeling lost and confused about where I was.
Despite this, Bridget Crack offers a compelling window into the female convict experience and the brutal realities of early Tasmania. It’s bleak, immersive, and vividly written and while it didn’t fully work for me, I can absolutely see why others have found it powerful. It’s a book I’m glad I read, even if my journey through it was uneven.
Set in Van Diemen’s Land in 1826, Bridget Crack follows a young convict whose defiance sees her punished and eventually sent to the brutal “Interior,” a remote outpost ruled by a cruel master. When she escapes into the harsh Tasmanian wilderness, she’s found by bushranger Matt Sheedy and drawn into an even more dangerous life on the run. Hunted by soldiers and trapped by the unforgiving landscape, Bridget faces impossible choices in her fight to survive.
Rachel Leary has written a beautiful atmospheric story. I enjoyed the bushranger sections of the story and found myself genuinely intrigued by the historical parts that I found myself googling to see whether the bushrangers mentioned were real people or fictionalised versions of real people.
Throughout the novel I could really feel Bridget’s despair. As a female convict she was trapped, vulnerable, and painfully aware that no matter where she ran, the authorities would eventually catch up. I could feel her fear and frustration, and the hopelessness of being a woman with nowhere safe to go in an unforgiving land. Where this novel feel short for me was as someone who has strong Tasmanian geographical knowledge I felt at times I was “roving” through the landscape. This left me feeling lost and confused about where I was.
Despite this, Bridget Crack offers a compelling window into the female convict experience and the brutal realities of early Tasmania. It’s bleak, immersive, and vividly written and while it didn’t fully work for me, I can absolutely see why others have found it powerful. It’s a book I’m glad I read, even if my journey through it was uneven.
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