Book Blurb
Alice Bennett has moved to Norfolk Island with her family who are descended from John Bennett, last commandant of the Second Settlement of the penal colony that was established on the island in the 19th century. John Bennett was a particularly brutal commandant and Allie comes up against long-standing resentment from some of her classmates when she attempts to vindicate him in a history class. Angriest of all is Noah, who is descended from Padraic O’Brien, one of the more outspoken of the convicts. Allie starts to sense her own connection with her past and when she is babysitting for the family who now occupy Government House she discovers a diary and realizes she has uncovered a tragic story.
The story is of Alice Bennett, daughter of the infamous John, who was notorious for the ill-treatment of the convicts under his command. Alice encounters Cormac O’Brien, who is a political prisoner, a gifted musician and possessor of a pair of blue eyes that immediately entrance Alice. They pursue a doomed romance, and tragedy strikes. Alice’s father has been spying on her, and in a preemptive move, orders Cormac to be hanged. Alice’s diary ends abruptly, as she sends her younger sister Susannah to ‘go on to dinner without her’.
Determined to find out what happened to her ancestress, Allie asks a friend in Sydney to see if Alice can be traced. The friend discovers a letter from Susannah, Alice’s sister, to their brother William, explaining what has happened - that Alice, inconsolable at the loss of Cormac, has walked into the sea and disappeared. After the colony is closed up, Susannah goes to Hobart and marries, and William becomes the ancestor of Allie’s family.
In two minds whether to show Alice’s diary to anyone, in the end Allie shows it to Noah, and then to her classmates, in the interests of revealing the truth, and resulting from this, their own developing relationship. Noah, too, has a secret - it seems Cormac and Paddy were forgers, not political prisoners. Allie and Noah, having come to terms with their historical background, are balancing past with present, and moving towards their future.
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Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala
Alice, or Allie as she likes to be called, and her parents just moved to Norfolk from Sydney. The small island has proven difficult for Allie. She is the outsider and no one is really happy to invite her in except maybe Noah. However that changes when he learns her ancestor is John Bennett, the well-known cruel commandant of the penal settlement. She tries to defend John Bennett’s actions, saying he was just doing his job, but is faced with anger and opposition. Allie is determined to prove them wrong. She is now on a mission to find any information she can.
She feels the presence of ghosts at the gaol and in the house where commandant once lived long ago. She sees a young woman dressed in blue. She follows the ghost through the house where she finds an important discovery. She is shocked to learn more of the story of John Bennett and his family. The heartbreaking truth of the past will hopefully free up the present and the future.
This was a fascinating YA story. It was full of ghosts, prisoners, cruel guards and true love. The author provided a great mystery in the sense that Allie set upon the search for the truth about her family. She definitely was not prepared to find what she found. She learned everything through Alice’s diary. So the reader was not only a part of Allie’s story but also apart of Alice’s story too. It was fascinating to learn how the penal settlements in Australia were from the viewpoint of the Commandant’s daughter. Then to see how it affected the descendants generations later. I loved how the past and the present were brought together and literally intertwined with Allie and Noah. Great story and I give it a 4 out of 5.
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