Remember Me

Kliatt, Nov, 2004 by Nola Theiss

REMEMBER ME. Lesley Pearse. 2003. Read by Eilidh Beaton. 11 tapes. 15.5 hrs. Clipper Audio, Recorded Books. 1-84197-9414. $91.00. Vinyl; plot notes. SA

One of the first English convicts sentenced to transport to Australia was a young English woman, Mary Broad. This audiobook is based on her life and is filled with the details of her ordeal and what she was forced to do in order to survive. The author fills in the known facts of her life--the horrific days at sea, her life in the settlement, her daring escape and return to England-but Pearse turns those facts into a real person who falls in love, bears and loses children, and uses her own strength and determination to save herself and others from a fate she doesn't deserve. The story is well read by Beaton, who conveys strength under softness in her voice. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL