AustLit

'The Rev. James Cameron published Adelaide de la Thoreza: a Chequered Career in 1877 only a few months after the death of Adelaide the protagonist of this biography. This is the only extant biography of a female Spanish convict transported to Australia. One might ask why is a biography appearing on a project dedicated to Postcolonial Crime Fiction? As all documentation bears witness to, fifty percent of Adelaide’s story is fiction in which she, or her biographer, created a totally fictional identity for her early life. Born into an aristocratic family, Adelaide flees to England after the assassination of her father and uncle, both famous liberal political figures in Spain, and following the wishes of her dying mother. She leaves behind her a childhood and adolescence fraught with intrigue, being interned in a convent for safety and a flight to Italy as the political scene in Spain becomes increasingly more violent. She narrowly avoids murder herself and at every turn her life is endangered. In England she lives with two well known aristocratic families only to end up being framed for stealing family silver and so transported to Australia, where she remained for the rest of her life. This biography is a fine example of a fictionalization of self wrought either by Adelaide or her biographer Cameron.' (Source : POCRIF website)