During the nineteenth century, 25,000 girls and women, convicted of mostly petty crimes, were transported to Australia from the United Kingdom and later became the founding mothers of modern Australia. They arrived as nothing more than property, but they managed not only to endure their privation and pain but to thrive on their own terms, breaking the chains of bondage, and forging a society that treated women as equals and led the world in women's rights.

After the author talk, enjoy a performance from singer/songwriter Digney Fignus who will perform "All for Love," a song he wrote to honor Australias convict maids and survivors everywhere.