Dubbed Sparrow by her loving parents, 10 year old Harriet has a good life. The year is 1836, and her father is the best saddle-maker for miles, her mother a good cook, wife and mother.
To Harriet, only her older brother Jesse spoils things, and he is about to change everything.
A simple walk to market for cooking apples becomes Harriet’s last taste of freedom before she is charged with theft, tried, and found guilty. Her sentence for stealing an apple is seven years. She cannot believe it and neither can her parents. But soon she is in the Newgate Prison – hell on earth.
The youngest among the thieves, liars, prostitutes, and worse in the women’s section of the prison, Harriet must sleep on the hard ground with a piece of sacking below her and another piece for a blanket. The air is foul with curses, screams and howls and a fetid stench. A used grey shift is the only clothing allowed, and the food minimal. Bodies are found daily, both women or their babies, and fights are common. This is just the beginning for Harriet. Part of her sentence is transport on a convict ship to Van Diemen’s land (Tasmania) 12,000 miles from home – and another prison.
Harry has worked hard on the deck of the Platina all the way to New Zealand. A new colony is being set up there and there are many sights to behold. The fine building materials for a grand house for a government official. The natives in their long canoes, powerfully moving as one across to meet the newcomers. Tents are to be put up and families are moving in. This is to be the capital named Auckland, and land sales are to begin. But where does Harry fit in?
Swapping from one persona to the other, a young girl travels across vast distances to a new life forced upon her. She does all she can to survive until she can go all the way home again.
This would have to be my favourite of Tess Duder Young Adult novels yet. Meticulously detailed and gripping, The Sparrow is a historical tale that spans 12,000 miles, genders, the rich and poor, people of good character and bad, over 4 years and three countries.
The reader will see the very beginnings of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, once deemed the capital of a new colony in the years of 1839-1840. Harriet is a brave character, doing all she can to survive terrible hardships forced upon her in spite. She has a strong sense of what’s right over pompous superstition and prejudice and stands her ground. Unfortunately this will be her downfall more than once.
This novel is told in two timelines that connect at the end – and what a conclusion!
Many of the characters are based on real people and the major events are taken from historical records. This is not only an insight into Aotearoa New Zealand’s early days, but a riveting story too.
Author – Tessa Duder
Age – 12+
(2022, Penguin, Historical, Aotearoa, New Zealand, NZ, Auckland, Land Sales, Stowaway, Newgate Prison, Family, Homesick, Survival, Secrets, Action, Growing up, Cascades Women’s Factory, Australia, Van Dieman’s Land, Sailing ships, Convict ships, Poverty, Prejudice)