The Exiles

The Exiles is a 2020 New York Times bestseller from author Christina Baker Kline. The story, which alternates the viewpoints of three women during the mid-19th century, covers the injustices of colonization and the redemptive power of love. Set against the backdrop of the historical British convict transports to Australia in the height of the Victorian era, The Exiles questions the imbalance of social hierarchies and the harsh effects of British colonialism.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with Mathinna, a young Palawa girl on Flinders Island, Australia, who is forcibly adopted by the Franklins, the governing British family in modern-day Tasmania. Stifled by British customs and culture, Mathinna must entertain Lady Jane Franklin and her friends by proving that she can assimilate into British society, even if it means risking her own identity and humanity.

Evangeline, a young governess in London, is swept off her feet by the charm of her employer’s young son, Cecil Whitstone. After a valuable family heirloom is found in her possession, Evangeline faces charges when no one in the family believes Cecil gave her the ring out of love and affection. Pregnant with his child and accused of theft and attempted murder, Evangeline is sentenced to 14 years in the British penal colony in Australia. While on board the repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline meets two fellow women convicts who become her friends and help her through her pregnancy: Olive, the boisterous and loud busybody who is also pregnant, and Hazel, a barely 16-year-old Scottish girl who dabbles in midwifery and healing potions. When Evangeline catches an unruly sailor, Buck, attempting to rape Hazel, she attacks Buck and saves Hazel’s life. However, Buck enacts his vengeance the night Evangeline gives birth to her daughter, Ruby, shoving Evangeline to her death from the top deck railing.

After Evangeline’s death, Hazel and the ship’s surgeon, Doctor Caleb Dunne, work together to save Ruby. Olive, after she gives birth to a stillborn son, nurses Ruby, and Dunne arranges for Hazel to claim Ruby as her own once she reaches Australia. Hazel is allowed to work in the nursery alongside Ruby until Ruby reaches six months of age, at which she is sent to the local orphanage. Hazel visits her until an anonymous stranger tells the superintendent of the prison that Hazel is not Ruby’s biological mother.

Meanwhile, Mathinna is trapped in the Franklins’s lifestyle, unable to acclimate to British culture and unable to return to her homeland. Though she succeeds in her lessons, others continually dehumanize Mathinna, calling her a “savage” and a “creature.” The only person who treats her with respect is a convict maid—Hazel, who is employed by the Franklins for a short period of time. One evening, while the Franklins use her to put on a show, Mathinna gets drunk and dances intimately to the music. After that, the Franklins want nothing to do with Mathinna, and she is left bereft with no identity. They return to London and leave her at the orphanage.

As Hazel’s release date nears, word reaches her that Buck seeks to take vengeance on her by stealing Ruby from the orphanage. She writes to Doctor Dunne, who has established a private practice in Australia. He claims Ruby as his own and, upon Hazel’s release from prison, offers her employment at his home so she can be with Ruby. One day, Hazel and Ruby see Mathinna at a local market. She is drunk and dirty but refuses Hazel’s offer of assistance, even though she credits Hazel with being the only person who ever cared for her. Eventually, Buck shows up and threatens to kill Ruby and rape Hazel, but Hazel poisons him with the flowers from a local plant. She and Doctor Dunne fall in love and raise Ruby together.

Twenty-five years later, an adult Ruby attends a medical apprenticeship in London and seeks out her biological father, Cecil Whitstone. She exhibits a strong moral voice and attitude, and he is taken aback by her confidence as she accuses him of ruining Evangeline’s life and taking advantage of her. She vindicates Evangeline by refusing to take the ruby ring that he gave Evangeline so long ago. During the final flashforward, it is revealed that Ruby’s future daughters will grow up to be trailblazers in terms of women’s medicine, overcoming the obstacles faced by the previous generations.