[Subdue] The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline 3 stars

[Sue]

Interesting dual story lines: the treatment of Aboriginal population in Australia and a the transportation of English criminals to Australia in the same time period.

Mathinna is a very young Aboriginal girl who is picked out as some sort of exotic pet by the wife of the English governor. She's taken far from her family, put in European clothes and raised as a European child - almost like a daughter. Exept she's not a daughter and when she fails to give an adequate performance on demand, she's abandoned to an orphanage.

In parallel to Mathinna's story, three young women in England are convicted of extremely petty crimes and sentenced to be transported to Australia.

Both story lines are fascinating and each deserved to have it's own book. I expected a lot more interaction between the two story lines once the English women reached Australia. And in fact they did meet and interact briefly with Mathinna. But otherwise the two stories continued on their separate ways.

I was disappointed and honestly confused that the two stories didn't actually converge at all. Otherwise well-written, but found myself really annoyed by the end of the book. I also really, really hated the unresolved and loose ending of Mathinna's story.