Astrea is a story of women aboard a convict ship headed for Australia. Within the succinct 115 pages is a powerful story, the power lying in both what is said and left unsaid. Maginn is a 15 year old girl who's story is slowly revealed to us with great impact. I felt this story in my core, Maginn and the plight of the women aboard Astrea felt so deeply real and alive to me. This is a fantastic novella well worthy of the Weatherglass prize and Kate Kruimink is an author to watch.

A monumental achievement; 100 pages of thrumming, terrible power. The setting, the language, the evocation of pain and denial. The sense of hopelessness lightly worn and of hope that only pulls you down. And an ending of such ferocious, perfect bleakness I cannot cast it from my mind. It’s a stunning, poetic, sad, beautiful book. I’m reduced to listing adjectives, as I cannot tell you why this is important, I can’t and won’t reduce it so. Read it.

Beautiful, surreal, heartbreaking. A book about human perseverance in the face of unimaginable, unpredictable hardship. Beautiful as a character study and as a piece of historical fiction. Gorgeous

A moving and atmospheric novella set in the early 19th century on a ship whose hold is full of women bound for an unnamed location. Whilst on their journey, the women battle sickness, loneliness, "women's problems" and the indignities of travelling with sailors and a self-righteous chaplain. The main character Maryanne is a bewildered and observant young girl with a shadowy past of her own, and she forms impressions and friendships with the women who travel with her. The creak of the ship and swell of the unyielding ocean add to the sense of imprisonment, and Katie's writing is both concise and brilliantly evocative. She manages to convey the strength and depth of women without shying away from their weaknesses and limitations. This book would be perfect for fans of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman.

A truly atmospheric novella and worthy winner of the Weatherglass Novella Prize. Stuck on a convict ship to Australia, facing brutality and judgement, Maryanne’s only friend has poisoned herself and all around her women’s private sufferings are exposed for everyone to see. It’s a bleak and uncompromising setting, yet the author somehow engenders hope. Full of expressive symbolism around ideas of rebirth, femininity and journeying, this is definitely one to read!