Instant New York Times bestseller
USA Today bestseller
Indie Next Pick
Real Simple “Best of the Year”
Kirkus Reviews “Best of the Year”
“Christina Baker Kline can tell a tale like nobody else. THE EXILES is a riveting story, brilliantly told, full of characters the reader cannot help but care for desperately. Impeccable research infuses the story with rich and fascinating detail, but never gets in the way of the irresistible force of the narrative. From the first page to the last, you know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller. This is historical fiction at its very best.” – Alex George, author of The Paris Hours
“Kline’s tale gives powerful voice to the exiled and oppressed.” – People, “Pick of the Week”
“Historical fiction fans won’t want to miss the latest from the author of Orphan Train. It’s women in prison, 19th-century style, with a treatment that’s both intelligent and satisfyingly dramatic.” — Newsday
“Gorgeous. Brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society.” – Kristin Hannah, author of The Four Winds
“A tour de force of original thought, imagination and promise … Kline takes full advantage of fiction — its freedom to create compelling characters who fully illuminate monumental events to make history accessible and forever etched in our minds.” — Houston Chronicle
“Extraordinary … Christina’s level of research into characters, place and time to tell a powerful story of suffering and survival in an historical fiction is masterful. The beauty and brutality of Australian history narrated through the lives of these girls is wonderfully told.” – Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
“Monumental. This episode in history gets a top-notch treatment by Kline, one of our foremost historical novelists. This fascinating nineteenth-century take on Orange Is the New Black is subtle, intelligent, and thrillingly melodramatic.”” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Christina Baker Kline’s new novel The Exiles is … in some ways a quiet book, focusing on the innermost thoughts and feelings of its main characters—but it’s also epic in scope, addressing matters of life and death, choices and consequences, and the founding of a new nation. These disparate elements combine to make it her best work yet.” – Chicago Review of Books
“Well-researched and boldly imagined.” — Sydney Morning Herald
“Master storyteller Christina Baker Kline is at her best in this epic tale of Australia’s complex history—a vivid and rewarding feat of both empathy and imagination. I loved this book.” — Paula McLain, New York Times Bestselling author of The Paris Wife
“A moving story set in Australia. Readers adored Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline’s 2013 novel. Now she’s back with another winner.” — AARP
“Both uplifting and heartbreaking, this beautifully written novel doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of the penal system but celebrates the courage and resilience of both the first peoples and the settlers who came after, voluntarily or not, to create a new home for themselves and their children.” — Library Journal (starred)
“In the gripping latest from Kline (Orphan Train), three women try to carve out lives in mid-19th-century colonial Australia…. The women, all brought to their new lives against their wills, become a lens through which to see the development of colonial Australia. Filled with surprising twists, empathetic prose, and revealing historical details, Kline’s resonant, powerful story will please any historical fiction fan.” — Publishers Weekly
“Christina Baker Kline is, to begin with, a fine storyteller. “The Exiles” is that rarest of novels, a true page-turner. The action moves along; the reader feels himself to be in the hands of a professional.” — Alabama Public Radio
“Celebrating the bonds between women, the novel explores how lives that seem destined for pain might persevere.” – Real Simple
“The author’s ability to weave fact with fiction, tragedy with moments of hope, and the everyday with the universal will leave you immersed, wanting more. You’ll open this novel because of history, read on because of story, and close it knowing more about your own life, right here, right now.” – New York Journal of Books
“The Exiles poignantly explores the issues of social identity, fate, loyalty, and survival during a time in history when women were ‘less than,’ and Anglo society believed itself entitled to decimate indigenous tribes living on confiscated land. From the squalid straw floors and suffering of Newgate, to a ship’s dark and foul hold, to a penal colony in Hobart Town, readers follow these brave women on their journey of survival through inexplicable sorrow, hardship, and loss. Although the novel chronicles fictional journeys a century past, the author’s commentary on social justice applies today. A masterpiece of historical reckoning, this heartrending story will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.” – Washington Independent Review of Books
“As in Orphan Train, Kline deftly balances tragedy and pathos, making happy endings hard-earned and satisfying … Book groups will find much to discuss, such as the uses of education, both formal and informal, in this moving work.” — Booklist
“Baker Kline’s storytelling reads so effortlessly and true that it’s easy to overlook the painstaking research that went into this novel, and the careful balance between vivid detail and larger questions about these women’s human experience. But let’s be clear: The Exiles is a masterful high-wire act. As both writer and reader, it’s thrilling to read.” – Jennifer Solheim, Fiction Writers Review
“An exquisitely researched novel with heroines we certainly root for as they’re forced on their own to create a new society together.” – Jordan Rich, WBZ Boston
“Scorching summer days call for some escape reading—engrossing books that transport you to another time and place so you can ignore the heat at home. Christina Baker Kline’s latest novel, The Exiles, does just that …Kline excels at historical fiction. Her novel Orphan Train shed light on the resettlement of more than 200,000 orphaned children to the American West between 1850 and 1930. A Piece of the World is a novel about the painter Andrew Wyeth and the subject of one of his most iconic paintings, “Christina’s World.” Each of Kline’s books features strong female characters grappling with their identities and their roles in society. She includes enough historic detail to be vivid and descriptive without bogging down the plot. Importantly, while her characters are relatable to modern readers, they’re not anachronistic. It’s easy to believe they are of their time and it’s compelling to root for them. Better yet, while we’re reading about them we enter their world and forget all about the temperature here at home.” – Christine Perkins, CascadiaWeekly
“Five stars [for] Christina Baker Kline’s novel of adversity and resilience. A fascinating tale that will appeal to readers with a taste for well-researched historical fiction and female friendships that can’t be broken.” – Jordan Lynch, BookBrowse
“As in her previous novels, ORPHAN TRAIN and A PIECE OF THE WORLD, Kline’s impeccable research adds great import to the already moving story…. This research, coupled with her knack for telling a compelling story, coalesce in a riveting tale that will keep readers breathlessly hurtling toward the heartrending conclusion.” — BookReporter.com
“In this gorgeous novel … Kline brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society in a beautiful and challenging land.” —Maine Art Scene Magazine
“A dark tale of strong women, barbarous circumstances – and hope. The story-telling in “The Exiles” is triumphant…The women’s struggles are filled with adversity and grief. But the novel also reveals moments of love, courage and bravery and resilience. Dark as it is, the seed of light is ever-present.” — Portland Press Herald
“Christina Baker Kline is well known for her historically accurate, powerful portrayals of people in distress — especially women and children — in dire circumstances beyond their control. The Exiles, Kline’s eighth novel, based on true events, is an extraordinary tale…. Kline has done her homework well, telling a superb story of how these women survived the hardships of brutal convict life, while also offering vividly colorful and disturbing pictures of British social distinctions, the unfair criminal justice system, blatant racism, the convenient use of Australia as a colonial convict settlement, and the dismissive treatment of women as mere chattel.” – Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel
“The Exiles is a gripping story. Well conceived and expertly crafted, it is a sometimes hard, yet necessary, story about the journeys some will make to silence the demons, find peace and foster and nourish life, completing a circle of closure we all look for in a life … A beautiful story of hope [with] deeply satisfying fictional characters. Their voice, intelligence and determination both shine a light and provide a requisite focus on social injustice.” – “Critical Notes,” National Book Critics Circle
“The Exiles is a gripping story. Well conceived and expertly crafted, it is a sometimes hard, yet necessary, story about the journeys some will make to silence the demons, find peace and foster and nourish life, completing a circle of closure we all look for in a life.” – The Quoddy Tides
“A time period and perspective not often explored is laid bare in THE EXILES, poignant historical fiction by Christina Baker Kline…. An unflinching narrative illustrating the brutality of British colonization, both through the harsh realities of the mistreated British women and through the heartbreaking stories of the Aboriginal Lost Generation.” — ShelfAwareness
“[A] heartfelt, emotionally rich novel.” — Woman’s World
“A wonderful historical novel … The writing is gut-wrenching and vivid and marked with surprising plot twists, but through it all, there are moments of light and hope and a great cast of secondary characters. A memorable read that all readers will savor.” – The Readers Exchange
“The character development is extraordinary …The surprising way these three stories intersect intensifies the helpless plight of 19th century women and how, once they were taken from the protection of their home and family, their vulnerability increased and they could find no way out of the pit that swallowed them. They found solace in each other, as women still do, encouraging, helping, sharing skills and watching each other’s backs. This book would be an excellent choice for your next book club.” – Yakima Herald
“One reason “The Exiles” is so excellent is because Kline is my favorite kind of historical novelist — she does a ton of research, completely absorbs it, and never shows her work. The novel starts fast and never falters.” — Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com
“A gorgeous tale of redemption and freedom for three women whose lives are intertwined in 19th-century Australia.” – Barnes & Noble
“A riveting novel. Readers’ take a journey with these women and root for them as they gain strength and resilience.” – Military Press
“A shipload of women convicts on their way to the penal colony in 1840’s Australia is a fascinating concept. In the hands of bestselling author Christina Baker Kline, it becomes a riveting masterpiece of historical fiction. This feminist perspective creates a unique and richly detailed reading experience. Narrated by two convicts and a young Aboriginal girl, the dark side of Britain and Australia’s treatment of the indigenous people and convicts comes to life on the page. This 362 page novel is a gripping one sitting read that will send you on a journey of discovery.” — Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books (Excelsior, MN)
“This book is just AMAZING – one of the best books I read in 2020! Once again, Christina Baker Kline tells an incredible story. This historical fiction title takes place in the mid 1800s about Britain’s colonization of Australia and how they would send their convicts to Australia and take over the land from the Aboriginals. It is told through the perspective of 3 women and speaks to their torment and suffering as well as to redemption and renewal. LOVE, LOVE LOVE!!!” — Kathy Morrison, Newtown Bookshop (Newtown, PA)
“Three females were taken to Australia against their will. Each of them has endeared herself to me, in spite of their foibles, failings and crimes, perhaps because of them. In the 1840s, women had few rights and poor women had even less power. Justice often failed them and then the unfortunates were swept along in a current of increasing degradation and hopelessness. This book illustrates that well. There are redeeming moments, and people willing to look the other way or give a second chance, but they are hard to come by. This story rotates between characters as the reader experiences the unfolding, sometimes unraveling of Mathinna, Evangeline and Hazel, but there are those who try to help along the way who were also winsome and likable; the character development is extraordinary.” — Susan Richmond, Inklings Bookshop (Yakima, WA)
“Historian Jill Lapore tells us that “Fiction does what history should do, but doesn’t.” Christine Baker Kline has written a wonderful and absorbing book that does just that. The Exiles takes us to England and the long journey to far away Tasmania in the 1840s, where people are expected to forge a new beginning after paying their debt to society (often for the most petty of crimes and false accusations). These characters survive by their wits and fortitude. Kline has created memorable characters, mastered the language of the times and has somehow written beautifully of their hardships and friendships. My favorite of her books to date. I found The Exiles WONDERFUL, an intimate yet epic story.” — Karin Barker, Bookworm of Edwards (Edwards, CO)
“New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World is back with a gorgeous historical fiction novel set in the 1840s in England and Tasmania. The book follows three women: Evangeline, a governess to a wealthy family who has recently become pregnant with her employer’s son’s baby and is accused of stealing from the family, Hazel, a young girl has been accused of stealing a silver spoon in order to provide food and shelter for she and her alcoholic mother, and Mathinna, a child who has been forcibly taken from her aboriginal family by the Tasmanian governor’s wife as a social experiment in turning a native child into a cultured young woman. After being found guilty, Evangeline and Hazel are sentenced to exile in Tasmania, arriving there by ship. Set in the era of deporting inmates to Australia and Tasmania as a means of punishment, these three abandoned women struggle for dignity, safety and ultimately love as marginal members of society. I loved it!” — Morley Vahey, Lake Forest Book Store (Lake Forest, IL)
“It’s hard to believe there was a time when women could be shipped to a far land, where they can never return, for stealing a spoon or believing the lies of a faithless lover. The Exiles is a read I couldn’t put down.” – Becky Milner, Vintage Books (Vancouver, WA)
“As she did in her #1 bestseller Orphan Train, in The Exiles Christina Baker Kline brings us voices we haven’t heard before, whose stories need to be told. We first meet Mathinna, the young Aboriginal girl adopted and then abandoned by the Governor of Van Diemen’s Land and his wife. Evangeline is a young governess who is sent to jail and sentenced to a transport ship while carrying her employer’s unborn grandchild. And finally, we meet Hazel, a girl little older than Evangeline’s former charges, who is sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. In telling the stories of this trio, Christina makes real the hardship, oppression, opportunity, and hope in 19th century Australia.” – Carrie Deming, The Dog Eared Book (Palmyra, NY)
“Most dystopian novels, such as The Giver, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Fahrenheit 451, are set in the future. Master storyteller Christina Baker Kline’s new novel, The Exiles, is historical fiction set in England and Australia from 1840 to 1868. The world of the book is dystopian. Kline focuses on three females. Mathinna was a Palawa child, exiled with her Aboriginal people to a small portion of Flinders Island, off the mainland of Australia. Evangeline and Hazel were young women, one from England, one from Scotland, who were sentenced to be transported to Australia, which at that time was a penal colony. Mathinna caught the eye of the wife of the Governor of Australia. The couple were collectors of native culture, and blithely added her to their collection, considering her to be less than human. Evangeline and Hazel experienced wretched conditions while imprisoned in Newgate Prison in London while waiting to board the ship which would take them to Australia. The ocean journey was grueling, and prison in Australia was worse. These characters lived in conditions which were designed to grind them down and rob them of their humanity. And yet, some of them found friendship, and a measure of hope. The novel is powerful and calls the reader to consider the history of both women and native people. This theme is particularly important at this time, as our country is being forced to confront systemic wrongs in our society.” – Sally Wizik Wills, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery (Park Rapids, MN)
“Highly Recommending.” – Joanie Borders, Buxton Books (Charleston, SC)
“An engrossing historical fiction that may open your eyes to the atrocities put upon both the aboriginal people of Australia and the women “convicts” who were sent there. Kline expertly intertwines the stories of four women and the impact that this movement made on their lives. Evangeline, a wronged governess, Olive and Hazel, both street hardened women, and Mathinna, a young Aboriginal girl. When the three women board the former slave ship, she forces you to take the trip with them. It is a story of sadness but great hope. You will feel that you are on that ship sailing across the world, never to return.” – Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX)
“The plight of women in England and Australia 150 years ago were in the hands of men who had no idea the burden their decisions made, especially on the poor. Female convicts were sent from England to Australia where conditions were barbaric in most cases. Kline has written another fabulous historical novel that tells the tale of a few of these women.” – Beth Carpenter, The Country Bookshop (Southern Pines, NC)
“I was so excited to get Christina’s new book in my hands and I tore right through it. We probably have a sentence or two in our history classes about Australia during our school years. I am so thankful I had to read more about the brave people who spent so much time in cramped quarters shipped off to the other side of the world. She has some mystery, romance and a up close look at the strong women sent over as prisoners having done nothing wrong. Your heart is heavy as you learn about the new lives they have to endure. Indentured servants who were not treated well and who held onto the belief they could go home, things could get better. This is a brilliant observation on society then and now with how we treat people less fortunate than ourselves. We are very lucky to be in the here and now even if we forget that sometimes. Great book club read!” – Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books (Wake Forest, NC)
“Christina Baker Kline’s THE EXILES is the best kind of historical fiction – a fast-paced plot, characters you care about, and the fascinating, horrifying story of England’s colonization of Australia with English convicts and its treatment of Australia’s indigenous people. Kline tells her story through three young females – two of them are female convicts and one is a young Aboriginal girl. Their stories of oppression, hardship, hope and mercy are powerful and unforgettable.” – Sheila Burns, Bloomsbury Books (Ashland, OR)
“One of the best books I’ve read this year! This is a meticulously researched historical fiction based on the lives of three women convicted of petty theft in England. They are shipped to the convict colony of Australia never to return to their home country. We also meet a young Aboriginal girl who weaves through this story like a phantom. There are aspects of Les Miz and The Forgotten Garden in this beautiful book. I simply adored it.” – Elizabeth Barnhill, Fabled Bookshop & Café (Waco, TX)
“In 1840, Evangeline is a well-educated governess to two young children in London. When she is seduced by the older half brother who then leaves for Venice, she is accused of stealing a family heirloom and sent to Newgate Prison. She is sentenced to fourteen years labor in the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. Hazel, the teenage daughter of a no-account herbalist, is convicted of stealing a sliver spoon for her mother. She is convicted to seven years labor on Van Diemen’s Land. Mathinna, an orphan, is a native princess which the wife of Van Diemen’s Land’s governor takes as a living artifact to add to her collection of aboriginal trophies. Each on their own separate journey to survive, they must endure severe hardships and overcome drastic conditions. Set aside a day for reading because you will not want to stop from the first sentence to the last word.” – Angela King, Sausalito Books By the Bay (Sausalito, CA)
“Tragic, heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful, Christina Baker Kline attempts to bring to life the experiences of British female prisoners who were put onto slave ships and sent to work prisons in colonial Australia and Tasmania. Told through the lives of three women, two convicts and one an indigenous Tasmanian girl, this story is pulled from real history and brings all the emotion, hardship, and hopefulness these women must have felt together. She also very purposefully shines light on classism, the flawed legal system, explicit racism and intolerance of the Tasmanian people, and the frankly shit way women were treated. It is a story of survival, of innocence lost, and of a country founded on massacre and colonialism.” – Lauren Nopen Fairley, Curious Iguana (Frederick, MD)
“Love love this book! Fantastic writing and fascinating story!” – Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT)
“The Exiles is totally immersive! I was lost in a world I knew little about, rooting for the women who came to life through Christina Baker Kline’s riveting storytelling. The tragic lives of the young women of “the transport” and the uprooted Aboriginal girl are told with dignity, revealing their strengths as they navigate through the rough and tumble of 19th Century Australia and behind-the-scenes London. Bravo Christina!” – Margot Sage-El, Watchung Booksellers (Montclair, NJ)
“In this compelling and meticulously researched historical novel, we meet three women, each from a vastly different background, whose fates are intertwined in 1840s England and Australia. Mathinna is an eight-year-old Aboriginal orphaned girl; Evangeline, a naive, young governess in London; and Hazel, a midwife and herbalist. Each endures a cruel and unjust fate and must dig deep into her soul to find strength to survive, and eventually thrive. As their lives intersect, we also become deeply immersed in 19th-century cultural and political events in the two countries. Written with grace and deep understanding of the profound power of friendship among women, you will remember these three women long after you read the last page.” – Nancy Hauswald, Left Bank Books (Belfast, ME)
“The Exiles explores the plight of women and children before the 20th c. in so many ways; but especially widows, orphans and single women not born to privilege. The sheer will and tenacity of life is told through the stories of different characters (Evangeline, Olive, Hazel and Mathinna) each of whom will tear at your heart. Beyond that the Exiles deals with the perfidity & prejudice and the violence not only of the penal system but also of Colonialism in Australia, all in a beautifully rendered novel where I fell in love with women who could have been my ancestors or yours.” – Maeve Noonan, Northshire Bookstore (Manchester Center, VT)
“For me two things all historical fiction books must have are does it make me want to know more about the subject and is it an authentic story of the time. Christina Baker Kline’s book The Exiles checked both boxes and more. This story follows three women and their struggles to survive. Beginning in London, continuing on a prison sea transport and lastly ending in Tasmania I felt I was there with Kline’s mastery of description. She addresses many social issues that are still plaguing us today such as prison reform, sexism, racism and classism. All while giving us hope that when you dig deep inside yourself you can survive anything. Definitely another important story told by Christina Baker Kline!” – Mary Patterson, The Little Bookshop (Midlothian, VA)
“Wonderfully researched, well written, fascinating story that I truly could not put down. Kept turning those pages to find out what happens next! I enjoy reading about Australia, but this book is very special, with engaging characters and a surprising plot. Love it!” – Karen Bakshoian, Letterpress Books Inc (Portland, ME)
“The author of ORPHAN TRAIN returns with another lush, sweeping historical novel. THE EXILES transports us to 1840s colonial Australia and follows the intertwining lives of three young women relocated far from their homes. Aborigine Mathinna is adopted by white colonists after her people were forcibly removed from their home island; Evangeline, a pregnant governess wrongly accused of stealing from her employers, is imprisoned in London and sentenced to transport; and Hazel, a convicted criminal who is a skilled midwife and herbalist, befriends Evangeline on a repurposed slave ship bound for the penal colonies. Grim yet hopeful, this powerful story will resonate with readers concerned about racial and social injustice.” – Alyssa Raymond, Copper Dog Books (Beverly, MA)
“Christina Baker Kline does not disappoint with this new novel! From the prologue, I was captivated with this story and read it in two days. So original! I’ve never read anything like it. This is going to go over so well in Indie Bookstores; I cannot wait to recommend to customers! Easy sell!” – Sara Harjo, Best of Books (Edmond, OK)
“In the early 1800’s the British Government repurposed slave ships to transport tens of thousands of convicted criminals to serve out their sentences in Van Diemen’s land, current day Australia. While most of those sentenced to transport were men, 25,000 were women. Many of these were convicted of offenses as minor as petty theft. In The Exiles, historical fiction master Christina Baker Kline has brought to life the story of three smart, determined, capable women who collectively pull themselves out of the British Penal system and make a better life for themselves and the small person who brings them all together. This one is a must read for historical fiction fans.” – Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop (Southern Pines, NC)
“The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline is a story of displacement. Both for the prisoners on board an old slave ship from England bound for Van Diemen’s Land, and for the indigenous people who lived there. The stories of the women, Mathinna, Evangeline, Hazel, Olive and Ruby, intertwine like the leaves on a vine. Each travelled a route they never planned. Their hardships are unimaginable but not unbelievable. Readers of historical fiction will recognize the truth of their stories as will the children of immigrants. There is sorrow and triumph, compassion and callousness, villains and heroes. I unreservedly recommend The Exiles.” – Kathleen McGonagle, Buttonwood Books and Toys (Cohasset, MA)