Downfall
About
Journey back to the unforgiving 1800s, where two lives torn from their roots collide in an extraordinary tale of courage, resilience, and defiance. Robert Bright from Cambridge, and Mary Anne Goulden, a fiesty soul from the gritty streets of London’s east end, found themselves ripped away from family and thrust onto a treacherous voyage aboard prison ships bound for a distant world.
As they face the iron grip of a colonial Governor’s oppressive regime, the question looms: can they endure the relentless trials and tribulations of their new lives? Against all odds, can they carve out a future of their own? Theirs is a true story that will inspire, a testament to the human spirit’s unyielding determination in the face of adversity. Discover the astonishing journey of Robert and Mary Anne as they navigate an unforgiving world, where hope shines even in the darkest of times.
★★★★★ “I couldn’t put it down”
★★★★★ “Fascinating and very well researched”
★★★★★ “Wonderfully descriptive narrative makes for a most immersive and engaging reading experience”
Did they beat the system?
Praise for this book
★★★★★ A most engrossing tale
My friend is a descendant but I found I couldn’t put it down .. Well researched and written
★★★★★ This is an amazing book
This book everything is good. The author did an amazing work to publish this kind of book. Also this book is a helpful books. I really happy to read it. Everyone need to must listen this book. I want to recommended this book for all reader. Thanks you so much.
★★★★★ A most interesting and entertaining read
I could not put the book down once I started reading. Fascinating and very well researched, it really enlightened me on an awful practice used by the British Justice system, the transporting of people accused of relatively petty crimes to years of exile on the other side of the world and the incredible hardships they experienced getting there.
★★★★★ Historical adventure brought to life; an immersive and absorbing experience.
The author has skilfully woven actual events and drama with historical adventure.
The research invested in this book is evident. This coupled with the author’s irrefutable ability to bring characters and crucial occurrences to life with his wonderfully descriptive narrative, makes for a most immersive and engaging reading experience.
A well-researched and detailed history of the lives of convicts in Australia in the 1830’s which leaves you hoping for the next volume.
There are many echoes of Dickens in the detail, language and well-researched background of this story, The Helots Tale. The author builds a complex introduction to a narrative that will be continued in a future book, building on the historical facts of two real characters, Robert Bright and Mary Ann Goulding. History buffs will relish the details of English social history as the story unfolds.
The early chapters switch from one family in Shoreditch to the other in Cambridge and we follow the parallel stories of Robbie and Mary Ann as they grow up in poverty and hardship, leading to their petty crimes and subsequent conviction and transportation to Van Dieman’s Land, now Tasmania. Throughout the book are fascinating descriptions. The book ends with an appendix of historical details on which the book is based and a glossary of some of the terms used, giving weight and authenticity to this very satisfying history of Australia’s convict beginnings.