Book Review: “The Tin Ticket”
There are so many things about this book that aren’t “me” that I never would have picked it up if it hadn’t been highly recommended.
The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia’s Convict Women by Deborah J. Swiss is non-fiction and covers an overlapping section of the history of the United Kingdom and Australia. While I do enjoy history, I don’t normally gravitate toward non-fiction tomes, especially ones which discuss recent history (the past 200 years or so) in foreign lands (i.e. not the United States). However, this book does have a few things which peaked my interest: mainly some very strong female characters and an almost conversational writing style.
The book follows the journey of three women (the back of the book says four, but one was not mentioned as in depth as the others) from Europe to Van Dieman’s Land, which later became Tasmania. The women were exiled forever from their homelands for stealing some silverware or stockings in the early to mid 1800s. In Europe at the time, the poor were starving. The Industrial Revolution wasn’t providing jobs quickly enough and famine was forcing farmers to the city in a vein attempt to find work. The rich were getting richer and the poor were dying.
It was the policy of England at the time to ship their convicts off. First to the “New World” of America and later to the colony of Australia. The policy really served two purposes: it got those “undesirables” away from the “respectable” society and it populated the colonies. The seven year sentence most women received was really a life sentence since the former convicts would have no way to return to their homelands once released from the prisons.
So these women were exiled to the other end of the world. Some didn’t survive the four month voyage by sea. But many did.
In The Tin Ticket, Swiss not only covers the policies which forced the women to Australia, but follows them as they forge ahead after their releases. These were the women who helped shape Australia into the country it is today–their version of the pioneers.
The story Swiss tells is compelling and fast paced. In addition to putting “names and faces” on the convict women, the author gives enough historical background that the reader doesn’t feel lost. Swiss also included almost one hundred pages of documentation on the specific women she chose to highlight in the book. What comes across is a story of strong, independent women on both sides of the law who did what was necessary to survive.
It wasn’t the story I expected.
Let’s be honest. I have a strong sense of justice and a rudimentary understanding of the legal system in the UK. I normally think that the judges and lawyers do their best to present a clear and compelling case and that the facts will win out. Okay, I’m not truly naive enough to think the system always works and I know there are grave mistakes in justice. But I also think it’s the best system out there and will support it.
Given my predisposition on the subject, I could have had some serious issues with this book. We’re talking about women who were convicted of crimes. But Swiss doesn’t lecture on the justice system of the day. She presents the facts as she finds them and allows readers to come to their own conclusions.
Would I recommend this one? Yep. In fact, I already have. If you’re looking for a book that will teach you something without reading like the history books of your youth or a book with female role models who made the most out of a terrible situation, I would recommend picking up The Tin Ticket.
If you do, let me know what you think of it!
Nichole
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