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The Pines Hold Their Secrets
Who is he? How does he know my name? What does he want of me? These questions mixed with her fascination for a stranger preoccupy Elise Cartwright as she and her family try to make a home in the Norfolk Island penal settlement in the mid-nineteenth century. The settlement is for them as much as for the convicts, a place of exile, a place of punishment. This is a historical novel set in the notorious penal settlement of Norfolk Island in the 1850s. Elise Cartwright, the daughter of the superintendent of agriculture at the settlement is strangely drawn to an Irish convict who called her by name, requesting her help. Elise is forced to confront her mother's bigotry and her society's smugness in their position of authority and privilege. The Irish priest introduces Elise to his world of American literature while the convict servants introduce her to their world of land-loss, exploitation and famine. Slowly, she learns who 'her convict' is, as her family's fate becomes ever more tightly enmeshed with his. The novel is based on the historical reality of the Irish famine, the 19th century Young Ireland movement and the notoriety of Norfolk Island as the worst of the colonial Australian pe
283 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 27, 2021
What an excellent, captivating story!! Set in mid 1800s, starting with the wife and daughters of the comptroller arriving in Norfolk Island. The wife and middle daughter constantly complain and are self centred. The eldest daughter Elise is the main character, who thinks for herself, questions constantly and is the heroine of the story. The brutality of the governor of the island towards the convicts is horrific and many of those in power are far worse characters than the convicts in their charge. Elise’s father, Mr Cartwright is a caring, decent man who has been sent to the island as a form of punishment.
This book had me in its thrall fro the first page to the last and the characters are wonderfully depicted.
This book had me in its thrall fro the first page to the last and the characters are wonderfully depicted.
February 12, 2017
Jill Blee is a remarkable woman: born in Ballarat where she now lives again, she is a ‘late bloomer’ as an author after a very varied career in Melbourne and Sydney. From an old article in The Age, I’ve learned that after school she trained as an industrial chemist, but like many women of her generation, she gave up work to have a family. When her marriage broke down she started a picture framing business, then sold insurance, and then was a factory manager. At 35 when her youngest started school, she started an arts degree, and – her interest in history fired by helping her children with projects – she went on to complete two Master of Arts degrees and a PhD, working as a live-in boarding-school housemistress so that she could study by day. And at 50 she began to write. I’ve previously reviewed Brigid (1999) and The Liberator’s Birthday (2002), and … without knowing it was Blee’s work as an historical researcher that I was watching, I’ve also seen some of the Doctor Blake Mysteries, set in Ballarat!
The Pines Hold Their Secrets (1988) is her first novel. It’s historical fiction, set on Norfolk Island during its period as a notorious penal settlement. Elise Cartwright travels with her family from the penal settlement in Hobart to Norfolk Island where her father – transferring under some unspecified cloud – has accepted a lesser position as Superintendent of Agriculture. He had been one of the most important men in Van Diemen’s Land and his silly wife is very conscious of her social position, fussing over frocks and what’s ‘appropriate’ and always manoeuvring to ensure that her three daughters marry well. Elise, an independent minded young woman in her early twenties, chafes at the social niceties and thus comes into brief contact with a convict called O’Shaughnessy while they are on board the Porpoise.
On Norfolk Island Elise is haunted by O’Shaughnessy’s enigmatic plea for help to prove his innocence, but can’t do anything about it. And despite Mrs Cartright’s best efforts to shield herself and her girls from anything unpleasant, before long all kinds of horrors are revealed, all reasonably consistent with what we know of Australia’s history as a penal colony. While there are a couple of rather melodramatic moments that test credulity as the novel reaches its climax, the plot rattles along quite well and the characters are generally well-drawn.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/13/t...
The Pines Hold Their Secrets (1988) is her first novel. It’s historical fiction, set on Norfolk Island during its period as a notorious penal settlement. Elise Cartwright travels with her family from the penal settlement in Hobart to Norfolk Island where her father – transferring under some unspecified cloud – has accepted a lesser position as Superintendent of Agriculture. He had been one of the most important men in Van Diemen’s Land and his silly wife is very conscious of her social position, fussing over frocks and what’s ‘appropriate’ and always manoeuvring to ensure that her three daughters marry well. Elise, an independent minded young woman in her early twenties, chafes at the social niceties and thus comes into brief contact with a convict called O’Shaughnessy while they are on board the Porpoise.
On Norfolk Island Elise is haunted by O’Shaughnessy’s enigmatic plea for help to prove his innocence, but can’t do anything about it. And despite Mrs Cartright’s best efforts to shield herself and her girls from anything unpleasant, before long all kinds of horrors are revealed, all reasonably consistent with what we know of Australia’s history as a penal colony. While there are a couple of rather melodramatic moments that test credulity as the novel reaches its climax, the plot rattles along quite well and the characters are generally well-drawn.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/13/t...
September 24, 2011
This was a really interesting book as I read it shortly after I had visited Norfolk Island and was keen to read up as much about the history of the island as possible. It described the isolation of the island well from the perspective of the the non-convict inhabitants, the hardship endured by the convicts, the corruption of some 'law-abiding' citizens, and the general injustice experienced during the era.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews