This is a wonderful collection of historical personal writings, although I must say that I find (at a few weeks remove) it difficult to match the pieces themselves with the descriptors from the back:

"...including: a bride of 16; one of the first men to play Australian Rules football; a woman running away from a brutal husband; another staving off a breakdown with drugs; a family fleeing imprisonment for debt; and her own great-grandmother, who was lucky to survive the first white settlement in the Kimberleys."

In each chapter, the writing itself is bookended at front with the description of a contemporary item (possibly all from Sussex's family possessions) and some other context providing information, and at the end with what follow up Sussex has gleaned about the writers themselves. Each piece is related to some aspect of sea travel in the mid 1800s, from wealthy individuals in 'first class' to those in steerage.

It was a fascinating read, and I was finding every spare moment to come back to it. Even though the writings themselves implied that the ships did not founder on the trip in question, there were certainly moments when this was in no way convincing. Thoroughly recommended. ( )