Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Day she Cradled me | Sacha de Bazin

This is the retelling of the events leading up to the hanging of Minnie Deans, the only woman in New Zealand history ever to be hanged.

It's the sort of story which is the thing of legend and lore in NZ but what do we really know about the events leading to her conviction? I was really intrigued by the research into the allegations of 'baby farming' in early New Zealand colonial life and after reading this book, based on Minnie's own writings, I'm not sure she was guilty of the alleged murders. Food for thought.

Well worth reading, and pondering on all the issues surrounding unwanted pregnancies, the death penalty and colonial life.

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