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She was not tried by a jury of her peers
Thank you to Booktopia's John Purcell (journalist) and Andrew Cattanach (camerman) for this interview about the hopelessness of Louisa's situation.
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Telling Louisa's story in the Free State
South Australia. It's history is very different to that of New South Wales. South Australia is the Free State: it was never a penal colony. People did not go there in chains. They were not...
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Louisa on the bestseller lists
Well, I couldn't be more thrilled. Mum sent me this list of the Top 10 best-sellers from The Age this morning - and look at No. 3. It's Last Woman Hanged. Now, I realise it's the Military...
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Belltrees - Birthplace of the Last Woman Hanged
Belltrees. It even sounds beautiful - and it is. Belltrees is a magnificent pastoral station in the Hunter Valley. It has been owned and managed by the White family for seven generations....
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What's an e-book bundle ?
Hey, what's this thing called an e-book bundle? Well, funny you should ask! The e-book bundle is new to the Australian marketplace. Essentially, it's a special, wrapped package whereby you can...
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Louisa Collins v Lee Child?
Many thanks to the staff at the Stanton Library in North Sydney for hosting a lively talk on Last Woman Hanged on Tuesday. The audience was fully engaged with Louisa's story and the questions were...
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Beware Japan's Black Widows
One partner dead. Then two. Then three. Then four, five, six ... then SEVEN partners dead?! No wonder they call her the Black Widow. Japanese police yesterday arrested Chisako Kakehi is a...
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Nosey Bob - bungling hangman
Many thanks to Melbourne's The Herald Sun for publishing an extract from Last Woman Hanged. They chose to focus on the hangman, bumbling Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard who also hanged the Aboriginal...
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Federal MP stands up for Louisa Collins
Well, this is amazing. One hundred and 25 years after Louisa Collins went to the gallows, a Federal politician has finally had the guts to say her name. Matt Thistlethwaite MP is the member for...
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Books of the Year
I'm feeling grateful. Last Woman Hanged has been selected as one of Booktopia's Books of the Year. I'm also feeling stoked - in a strange kind of way! - because when you go to the link, you can...
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What I've Learnt
Would you like to see some of the documents I uncovered while researching the life and death of Louisa Collins? Well, here they are. My publisher will probably think I'm crazy for doing this...
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California dreaming
So … A little over a year ago, I applied for a Green Card, which is the card you need to live and work in the United States. I can’t really explain what prompted me to do it. I wasn't unhappy,...
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Welcome to the United States of America
In case you ever wondered what it looks like ... this is the piece of paper they give you when you present yourself to a border agent at US Customs and Border Control as a Legal Alien ... it means...
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A late pardon
Irish media is reporting that a man hanged for the brutal murder of a young mother of seven is to recieve a pardon - 74 years after his execution. Local farmer Harry Gleeson found Mary...
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Can we identify this little girl?
If you've been reading the news, you'll know that South Australian police are desperately trying to identify the remains of a little girl found tucked in a suitcase by the side of the road near...
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On winning the 2015 Davitt Award
What can I say? I was thrilled. The Davitt Awards are named for Australia's first female crime writer, Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, in 1865....
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Last Woman Hanged
Well, we have a publication date! Last Woman Hanged will be available from all good bookshops and online on 20 October. More details soon ...
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First copy, hot off the press, as they say
Well, here it is. The very first copy of Last Woman Hanged. My first book in hardcover. Five years in the making. It has a picture section in the middle and more than 400 footnotes. I...
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Where Louisa died: a tour of Darlinghurst Gaol
What is your new book called? It's a question I get asked all the time at the moment, and the answer is: 'My book is called Last Woman Hanged, and it's about Louisa Collins - a plump, drunk mother of...
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Last Woman Hanged was a little girl
My new book is called Last Woman Hanged - and it concerns the Last Woman Hanged at the Darlinghurst Gaol but occasionally, friends will direct me to clips, stories, songs, poems, about other women...
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