In one of the most remarkable seafaring stories of stowaway adventure, Suzanne Falkiner tells the story of Rose de Freycinet, who could not bear to be parted from her husband and so, wearing men’s clothes, snuck on to his ship  in 1817 to join his scientific expedition to the South Seas.

In doing so, not only was Rose doing something highly illegal, but she  also became the first woman to circumnavigate the world and leave a record of that perilous journey. In letters and her journal , she recorded remarkable scenes and encounters in places including Mauritius, Brazil and the early Sydney settlement before being shipwrecked on the Falkland Islands.

Rose has long deserved a biography that acknowledges her courage and capacity  for resilience, curiosity and French savoir-faire.

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