The powerful new novel from master storyteller Jackie French
The soldiers she saved called her the Angel of Waterloo. The husband she loved and lost called her Hen. The patients she treated in secret called her Auntie Love.
She was Henrietta Bartlett, a surgeon’s daughter, a survivor of the Napoleonic Wars. But now the battlefield is just a blood-soaked memory, and Hen dreams of peace, a home with a garden of her own, and a society that allows women to practise medicine.
On the other side of the world, the newly founded colony of New South Wales seems a paradise. But Europe’s wars cast long shadows…
From bestselling author Jackie French comes the story of one woman’s journey from the hell of Waterloo to colonial Australia, where she can forge her own dreams in a land of many nations.
There’s nothing I enjoy so much as curling up with a cup of tea and an outstanding piece of historical fiction. And Jackie French is one of our very best historical novelists. When reading one of French’s novels, I can always trust that I’m in the hands of a skilled storyteller who will transport me from the tedium of the everyday to a time when life was more thrilling, wild and dangerous.
In our review of French’s previous novel, Clancy of the Overflow – which was a big hit in the Better Reading office in 2019 – we described French as a ‘master storyteller’ who ‘gives women a rich, strong, and brutally honest voice’. This is certainly evident when reading the Angel of Waterloo. Here, French imbues each of her female characters with strength and resilience, giving them a voice in a time when they were otherwise expected to be quiet, gentle and meek. From the tenacious protagonist, Hen, to her convict servant, Mrs Cook, and Jessica, the young indigenous girl Hen befriends, French celebrates women from all walks of life, and writes them back into Australian history, which, until recently, was a narrative dominated by male stories.
From the explosive (quite literally) beginning, to the heart-breaking final chapters, French delivers a powerful and engrossing story, which I was unable to put down and struggled to tear my eyes from. Richly imagined, meticulously researched and beautifully written, The Angel of Waterloo was an absolute delight to read, perfect for lovers of historical fiction and French’s Matilda saga. Do yourself a favour and add The Angel of Waterloo to your TBR list this summer, you can thank me later.
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