A Tattooed Heart, 2015

1832: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Sarah Morgan and Harriet Clarke have been serving their sentences in Sydney Town for three years. Though they have lived in fear of the sinister and formidable Bella Jackson, each has begun to make a life for herself.

Then Harrie's adopted child, Charlotte, is abducted and taken to Newcastle and the girls must risk their freedom to save her. But is Friday up to the task? Will the desperate battle with her own vices drive her to fail both herself and those she loves?

In this final volume of the saga about four girls transported halfway around the world, friends and family will be reunited but cherished loved ones lost, and an utterly shocking secret revealed.     

This was the last book in the Convict Girls series and I had to make it a good one – though not, I'm pretty sure, the last time Friday, Sarah, Harrie and Aria will be popping up. I wanted to include Newcastle in the story because I lived there from 2010 to 2014 and it was great fun researching what it was like in the early 1830s (sparse). There were lots of ends to tie up, but I won’t say anything about those ends are because that would be letting the cat out of the bag, wouldn't it?          

'What an amazing story this is! … The book is so convincing I almost forgot I was reading fiction instead of a true account of the characters’ lives, and that for me makes an excellent story. There are some surprises and twists and yet the story maintains a really nice balance all the way through despite each character being really strong and unique.'

Maria Brewerton, NZ Reads