A fascination with the ocean and the history tucked away beneath its waves is something that Meg Keneally scoops up and transforms into words for her novel Fled. With every turning page, Meg resurfaces an old story in all its action and glory.
Fled follows Jenny Trelawney’s not so smooth journey from poverty to highway robber, to convict and eventual runaway, as she fights for a freedom that lands her in the sea. After she is transported to Australia, Jenny tackles new challenges and growing responsibilities and when famine hits her new colony, her will to survive makes her the leader in a grand plot of escape. Keneally based her novel on the extraordinary life of convict Mary Bryant, the only female convict to successfully escape the colony. “Fled is an irresistible feast of history, adventure, intrigue and tragedy,” one review said.
Much like Mary, Meg has exciting and ever-changing roles of her own. As a former scuba diving instructor intrigued by maritime history and archaeology, she spends as much time underwater as she can. Keneally has worked as a public affairs officer, sub-editor, freelance feature writer, reporter, and talkback radio producer. She even co-founded a financial service public relations company but sold it after adding mother to the resume.
For more than ten years, Meg has worked in corporate affairs for listed financial services companies. She also co-authored with Tom Keneally The Soldier’s Curse and The Unmourned, the first two books in The Monsarrat Series. Fled is Meg’s first solo novel and it has already been optioned for film. It is no surprise that this multi-talented woman is also writing the screenplay.
Readers also enjoyed our story Rose Fydler’s Threads.
