What is Last Woman Hanged about? On one level, it's a story about a woman on trial for murder. It's about marriage, betrayal, justice, poverty, and arsenic. It's a true crime story, set in the late 19th century. That's on one level - but it's also about something much deeper, and it's the deeper issues that I talked about on Breakfast with Fran Kelly on Radio National today. It's about the fierce campaign fought by women in the 19th century to get the vote. It's about the bat

Warm thanks to the generous Robin Amadio of The Wentworth Courier for attending the lunch for 40 women at Chiswick, to celebrate the publication of Last Woman Hanged. Whether Louisa Collins was guilty or not, hanging is barbaric, and to hang a woman when no woman was even allowed to vote on capital punishment is a travesty of justice. Mia Freedman was MC, and Leigh Sales gave the speech. The theme naturally, was how far we've come. As for Matt Moran - and what he's doing at a

A thoughtful piece from Fairfax's Clementine Ford with a focus on the women who tried to save Louisa's life. I must admit, my favourite part of the research process was discovering their names. Women like Elizabeth Parsons, a cheerful and talented watercolourist from Melbourne, who went around to all her neighbours in St Kilda, trying to drum up signatures for a Women's Petition to prevent Louisa from being sent to the gallows. Women like Caroline Boyce, who gathered up signa

I was lucky enough to be invited onto the Alan Jones program on 2GB on Monday to talk about Louisa Collins and Last Woman Hanged. Alan is a staunch supporter of the arts in Australia: song, dance, theatre and literature. He is also a passionate supporter of the telling of Australian stories - and, by chance, he knows Belltrees, the pastoral station where Louisa was born, very well indeed. He was immensely supportive of my mad campaign to get Louisa's story - and the story of

The formal launch of Last Woman Hanged was held in a lovely, sandstone-walled room at the Gallipoli Club in Sydney's CBD last night, Monday 27 October 2014. Our host was The Sydney Institute. We had a full house, and sold every book. Louisa's story has captured the imagination of so many people. My own family was there, as were at least 11 direct descendants of the last woman hanged, Louisa Collins. Also present: the gorgeous Rebecca Pettit and her family. Rebecca has been r

The official launch of Last Woman Hanged is tonight (Monday, 27 October.) It will be held at the Gallipoli Club, and my host is Anne Henderson of the esteemed The Sydney Institute. Several of Louisa's direct descendants will attend. One guest we won't see is Richard Pottie, and I'm sad about that. Richard is directly descended from Eliza Pottie, the blue-eyed, pink-cheeked Quaker lady who fought so hard for Louisa's life. Eliza went on to become a leading suffragette. As wome

A terrific story from Liz Burke at new.com.au - Louisa's family are now fighting to get a headstone placed on her unmarked grave. Louisa's great, great granddaughter, Janis Thompson, is quoted in the story, saying that Louisa is buried in a part of the Rookwood cemetery that is overgrown, and largely inaccessible: Since being tracked down by author Caroline Overington, who has published the first full-length examination of the convicted murderess, (Ms Thompson) has become fas

The ABC is a magnificent supporter of Australian history; and of recent efforts by writers to tell women's stories. Here's a link to an interview I did with their website: Author Caroline Overington has explored the case against Louisa Collins in her new book, Last Woman Hanged. Ms Overington searched the archives to re-examine the original forensic reports, court documents, judges notebooks, witness statements and police records in an attempt to find the truth of Louisa Coll

I've received so many emails in response to the story in Good Weekend (19/10) and one question that has arisen is: why was Louisa called the Borgia of Botany? Two reasons: first, because Louisa supposedly used poison to dispatch her husbands (once you've read the book, you'll be able to decide for yourself whether she was guilty.) The name Louisa sounds a little like Lucrezia - and Lucrezia Borgia is a famous figure in Renaissance history: the daughter of a Pope, she is rumou

With thanks to the fine writer, Jacqueline Maley, for this article on Louisa Collins in Good Weekend magazine in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age today ... Jacqueline's interest in Louisa's story was heartening, and her compassion toward the plight of women in the 19th century shines through her piece. She also liked my Key Lime Pie - made that morning, along with a fresh batch of scones, all courtesy of the triple-tested recipes in the Women's Weekly - which warms my ol