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

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

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 ten- who was both the first and the last woman to be hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol.' There was a time - not all that long ago, actually - when people were hanged in public in New South Wales. More than 10,000 people turned up to see a Navy captain, John Knatchbull, executed, outsid