By MIA FREEDMAN
Louisa Collins was not your average Australian woman. A mother of 10. She liked a drink and a dance. She had two husbands and a baby who all died in a short space of time in unexplained ways. One woman. Two husbands. Four trials. One bloody execution.
The new book by best-selling author Caroline Overington is a ripping read and a true-crime story that you won’t be able to put down. But it’s more than that. Because Louisa Collins was the Last Woman Hanged in NSW and what happened to her had an impact on every woman in Australia.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. I read it in a couple of sittings and you will love it. Also makes a most excellent gift for any woman in your life of any age. I’m buying in bulk for Christmas.
I’d love to say I sat down with Caroline to ask her about the book but whenever Caroline and I get together, we always have so much to talk about, there’s never enough time. So we did this via email.
Also – she’s quite busy. She’s written a best-selling novel every year for the past six years, is an Associate Editor at the Women’s Weekly, writes for their website, is the mother of twins and keeps winning awards.
But this book has been her passion project over the past decade and when you read more about it, you’ll understand why………
Top Comments
I'll be adding this book to my xmas reading list and reserve judgment until I've actually read it.
It's 'hanged' if it's a judicial execution, 'hung' if a lynching or suicide.
It's to do with the action, not the purpose of the action. If you've been hanged to death, the action is completed. If a dress is hanging on a rank, it has been hung. No?
No, I'm pretty sure when talking judicial circumstances, it's 'hanging'. Anon has it right.