The notorious baby killer Frances Thwaites, in her day as famous perhapsas Ned Kelly, and whose execution in 1894 led the hangman to kill himselfrather than perform the deed. Frances was alternately demonized andfantasised over, though her role as one of the colony's most infamous babyfarmers has usually been depicted as evidence of a depraved psychopath.

This novel, based on a meticulous re-examination of letters, trialtranscripts and first-hand accounts, tells a different tale. In the style ofAlias Grace and The True History of the Kelly Gang, The Notorious FrancesThwaites tells the poignant story of a young girl unfairly condemned to lifein the colony who struggled through adversity to survive the harshenvironment of Australia a girl hanged for a crime she may not havecommitted. Beautifully written and evocatively told, this is a story at oncelyrical and bold. The first work in a trilogy about the lives of Frances andher two daughters, this book both introduces a fresh new voice into theAustralian literary scene, and resurrects the voice of a tragic Australianheroine so that her true story can at last be told.