Previously Published Book
Historical Fiction
For the poor in 18th century England, life was difficult and oftentimes brief, with pain and death a constant presence. Jack Watling was born into this uncompromising world and harboured the dream of escaping the shackles of poverty and subservience.
He left his life in rural Essex to hopefully forge a better one in the city of which he knew little, but which drew him like a magnet ? London. His naivety and inherent trust in his fellow man, however, brought him to the brink of disaster. Sentenced to seven years transportation for a crime he had no control over, the nightmare that was Newgate Prison was exchanged for the violent life-threatening colony of New South Wales. Surrounded by murderers, rapists, thieves and prostitutes, his determination to survive, and hopefully return to England, cruel as it undoubtedly had been to him, tested his mettle to the limit.
Is his destiny to be forever a part of this fledgling land, or is the lure of the land of his birth too strong to ignore?