Anne Whitehead relates the engaging story of the unlikely meeting in 1815 on the island of Saint Helena, of thirteen year old English girl Betsy Balcombe and Napoleon Bonaparte, and their friendship over the subsequent years of his exile there.
The use of contemporaneous correspondence helps paints a fascinating portrait of the great man too, and of social and political life on this far-flung island outpost of the British Empire.
Although those detailed dealings of island life were a bit long for me, the narrative changes gear in 1824, when Betsy’s father William takes the family to Sydney and he is appointed first Colonial Treasurer under Governor Macquarie. The portrayal of early colonial politics in the New South Wales is lively and very interesting.
Recommended, with good insights into two very different worlds through Betsy’s story.
KOOKYNIE COURIER 