The Commandant by Jessica Anderson

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars


This is a story taking place in early 19th century during the Australian nation's formative years, back when it was a penal colony. It is a fictionalized account of actual events that occurred in the Moreton Bay penal colony in what is now Brisbane. The commandant referred to in the book's title is Patrick Logan, a real historical figure who was not a nice guy. The main character is his sister-in-law who arrives from Ireland.

This book is extremely interesting from a historical perspective. I knew little about the penal colonies of Australia, and this book makes me want to learn more. It's a shame this book hasn't enjoyed a larger following.

[Gail]

I gave this book 4 stars.
The Commandant is a historical fiction that uniquely captures the place of women at a time when society was changing from one in which harsh and cruel measures were considered appropriate to discipline the prisoners of the penal colonies to a time when both in England and in Australia there was talk of changing to a more humanitarian approach. Most of the action in the book, strangely, takes place in the drawing room of the Commandant's house where the women are gathered. We are given the back stories on a number of the male and female characters and we come to see that Australia was not the land of opportunity for any of them. They came because they had no choice as prisoners, or because of duty, or lack of opportunity or choices elsewhere. Even the non-prisoners often had no choice but to flee to Australia due to legal or fiscal problems in England.
Much of the violence in the book we do not witness first hand but rather are told about after the fact and in this way, we as readers, learn the way the female characters in the book learn of major events. I found myself often on the edge of my seat because of the way the plot moved forward. Like a women waiting to hear how her life would be impacted, we wait to hear about each of the action points in the book.
I thought the book was quite strong in this way.
I also was highly supportive of having a main female character, the sister in law to the Commandant, having a strong and clear mind of her own.

[Amanda]

I also gave this one 4 stars. I don't have a whole lot more to add to what is already here: I like what Diane and Gail have already wrote.

I also liked the fact that this highly patriarchal story about penal violence and colonialism and power struggles was portrayed by a woman on the periphery.

Frances was a great protagonist, and I love how she is treated often like a daft young girl but is a highly intelligent woman who is overtly political, but gets talked down to often because her politics are compassion based. Sadly, this often still happens, where people (often but not always older men) assume that compassion based politics are inherently less intellectual when that is a fallacy (I hear the misuse of the phrase “facts over feelings” to convey this all the time). She also serves as a great foil to Logan because of this.

The dialogue also seemed to have this wonderful cheeky and ironic Austen-esque quality at times that I really enjoyed.

[Patrick]

****

I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Anderson is not very frequently named as a major Australian writer; yet her fictionalized account of the last days of Patrick Logan, commandant of the fledgling Moreton Bay penal colony, now known as Brisbane, at a time where it was part of the New South Wales colony, warrants a much improved notoriety in the semi-arid landscape of Australian literature. The novel not only explores the historical context, but also delves into the psychology of the people of the time, the colonial political intrigues and the framework of social customs of the era, with the character of Frances bringing much of the progressive views that ran counter to the brutal environment of the British penal colonies in Australia. A must-read for anybody interested in that period of history.