Unsure of his
real past or name, Finn O’Connor thinks he was born in Ireland and taken from
his mother as a baby by a gypsy woman. As a toddler, an English woman then took
him to London. About ten he fled to join a gang of boys who survived by their
wits on the streets. Five years later, he was arrested for a minor crime and
transported to The Colony of New South Wales for a 10-year term. In 1846 as
transporting of criminals neared an end in NSW, he was moved to the infamous
penitentiary at Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land.
On the day
Finn received his papers of freedom an accidental meeting brought him into
contact with 20-year-old Esther Blythe. Born in Surrey, England, genteel Esther
is kind and caring. As a 4-year-old her parents brought her to Van Diemen’s
Land where her Papa, a doctor, took on the task of providing medical aid to the
prisoners at the Port Arthur Penitentiary and its surrounding area. Sadly, both
parents were killed in an accident, leaving Esther with no option but to work
as a governess/nursemaid.
For reasons that even she did not comprehend,
Esther took the ex-convict under her wing when they met outside the
penitentiary hospital. Could be she saw a fellow lonely soul who simply wanted
someone to have faith in him. Life seems to take a turn for perhaps the better
from then on, but will these two lonely people overcome many obstacles to find
the happiness they seek together as they face an uncertain future.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"To use an apt cliché Finn and Esther the main characters in talented novelist Ms McGill’s novel A Troubled Heart are ‘chalk and cheese’. Homeless orphan Finn had lived with a group of boys who survived living on their wits and theft in London. Arrested for a minor crime when Finn is about fifteen years old, he is convicted he is transported to Tasmania.,
Esther’s deceased father a doctor and mother emigrated from England to Tasmania. They were devoted to each other and were a good example to Esther of what it meant to share life with another.
In 1848, on the first day of Finn’s parole, when he leaves hospital after an injury Finn is penniless. Esther, alone in the world lives with a family where she is employed to teach a small girl. She tumbles down the steps. Finn helps her up. She thanks him and asks who he is. He tells her he is a homeless ex-convict. Esther believes she is a good judge of character. She takes her to her employer’s house, where he is employed as an odd-job-man, and from then on helps him in every way she can.
Finn and Esther’s friendship develops. It is frequently tested by many trials during which Finn is convinced she is too far above him for them to have a future together.
I enjoyed this – as far as Finn, a decent man, rags to riches story. I have awarded it a five out of five stars review." Rosemary Morris
