Swansdowne

In the nineteenth century, Squire Stowe and his family are forced to abandon their elegant Devon home for the uncertainty and discomfort of Tasmania and must struggle to build a new life in a wild and beautiful land

In 1845, Lionel Raxleigh, his sister Sarah, brother-in-law Augustus Stowe and the Stowes' two children, Roly and Sally, are forced to emigrate from England to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Dick Stanton, the illegitimate son of Lionel's father (a fact known only to Sarah) is also sent to Tasmaniaas a convict committed for a minor infraction. By chance the two branches of the Raxleigh family, sailing on the same ship, meet. Lionel, who as a correspondent for The Times has access to otherwise privileged information, is drawn to Dick, and when the Raxleigh clan has established itself on an estate outside of Hobart Town, has Dick released into his custody. By this time Sally has had an illegitimate son and Roly has become an alcoholic. The adventures of this lusty breed constitute an ambitious project gone awry. The characters are hastily drawn and their motivation unbelievable; the novel is a tedious read. (May
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