The Other Three Women: Christina Baker Kline’s ‘The Exiles’ is a Harrowing Tale of Women in Colonial Australia

I recently met Christina Baker Kline at a literary event in Huntsville, Alabama for our public library fundraiser. Christina is the author of several well-known non-fiction and fiction books. An avid reader, she hails from a family of librarians. In her opening remarks she appealed to the crowd gathered at the Jackson Center in Huntsville, that although she lives in Maine and New York, she is a Southern Baptist with family connections in the South. She has a charming, brisk air about her and delivered a 30-minute talk about her research on her book. I congratulated her for honoring the luckless castaways. Her words and images of the “more sinned against, than sinning” have entered the inner recesses of my mind, hence my review: 

In Kline’s emotionally charged and courageous 2020 novel, “The Exiles,” the heart-wrenching tales of three women converge in the unforgiving backdrop of 19th century Australia. Unbelievable consequences of the brutal policies of British colonization of far-flung lands. Evangeline, a young governess in London, faces the cruel consequences of a forbidden love affair, finding herself condemned to Van Diemen’s Land for the crime of being an unwed mother. 

Alongside her is Hazel, a Scottish pick-pocket whose journey on a convict ship cruelly called “Medea” unfolds as a harrowing saga of survival, resilience, and the unexpected bonds forged in the darkest of times. In the same wilderness, Mathinna, an orphaned Aboriginal girl, grapples with forced assimilation and the loss of her cultural identity in the house of the British governor at his wife’s whim.   

Kline paints a vivid picture of the harsh realities these women endure, from the fetid confines of Newgate Prison to the repurposed slave ship and the convict stations “cascades” in Van Diemen’s Land. The narrative weaves like xylem and phloem between the perspectives of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna, each recounting a different facet of their shared struggle. 

Kline uses her extensive research into these women’s lives from reading a chapter in the book “The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes” going to Australia as a graduate student on a Rotary fellowship. She went back to Australia for in-depth research and spent several weeks scouring the library archives and befriending a local author who had spent her life writing about these exiled women. 

Kline masterfully intertwines historical facts with fiction, using Mathinna’s character to illuminate the suffering of the native people displaced by British colonization.

In a powerful PowerPoint presentation at the 37th Vive Le Livre event of the Huntsville Public Library Foundation, Christine recounted how she constructed her three protagonists and wrote about the varying treatment they receive at the hands of the British government—Evangeline, privileged yet imprisoned; Hazel, initially scorned but later respected for her herbalist skills; Mathinna, labeled as a savage—exposes the deep-seated classism and racism of the imperialist culture.

The story’s inherent bleakness is punctuated by fleeting moments of hope and joy, making the characters’ journeys all the more poignant. The strength of inner resilience becomes a prevailing theme, echoing the harsh yet transformative nature of life in Australia. Kline doesn’t shy away from portraying the harsh realities and, at times, tragic fates that befall these women. Yet, amidst the despair, the novel underscores the unbreakable spirit of its protagonists and their capacity to find strength in the face of adversity.

Kline skillfully sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of human history, exploring the lives of women sent to Australia to populate the continent and serve the carnal needs of the convicted men. These tragic stories of the 1800s Tasmanian penal colony are often overshadowed by the broader historical narrative. 

“The Exiles” is not a happy story, but it is undeniably inspiring and thought-provoking, inviting readers to reflect on the resilience of the women who faced oppression and hardship. Spending days huddled together, subservient, indentured, objectified. Standing knee deep in dirty water washing dirty laundry all day long, or in solitary confinement untangling piles of tangled hemp.

I found the three portraits of Mathinna particularly touching: The first one of her innocent, soft wide-eyed face, the second one of her in a red frock in an attempt to anglicize her, the third with a sad but telling reflection in her eyes of what she had witnessed in her short life before succumbing to a watery death in a pond. Her true story serves as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed against the Aboriginals and other native people in Tasmania, Africa, and India by the Anglo colonizers. 

If one removes the ambivalent curtain covering the American past, one can draw many parallels between what happened to Australian Aboriginal people to the fate of the Native Americans and African Americans in “The Land of the Free.” If we look around us we can find many stories similar to the forced assimilation, effacement of cultural heritage, and the tragic end that Mathinna faced. Kline masterfully intertwines historical facts with fiction, using Mathinna’s character to illuminate the suffering of the native people displaced by British colonization.

“The Exiles” is a compelling exploration of oppression, endurance, and hope. They grew strong by sharing their combined loss and growing up overnight. After enduring the long hardships, those who survived and finally became free became lawyers, doctors, and successful citizens of society after they were freed. Through the intertwining narratives of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna, Kline delivers a powerful and emotionally resonant tale that lingers long after the final page.

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With one foot in Huntsville, Alabama, the other in her birth home India, and a heart steeped in humanity, writing is a contemplative practice for Monita Soni. She has published hundreds of poems, movie reviews, book critiques, and essays and contributed to combined literary works. Her two books are My Light Reflections and Flow through My Heart. You can hear her commentaries on Sundial Writers Corner WLRH 89.3FM.